Reviews

The original Halloween follows Michael Myers, a 6 year old kid who murders his older sister on Halloween night in 1963. Sent to a mental hospital for life, exactly 15 years later he breaks free and returns to his home town of Haddonfield to kill again. Hot on his tail is psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, who knows exactly how dangerous Michael is and wants to stop him before it's too late. Of course, local law enforcement pretty much ignores Loomis' pleas for help hunting Michael, leaving him all but alone as he chases the deranged killer....

Halloween was by no means the first slasher movie, but it was definitely the one to popularise the genre, and put John Carpenter on the map. I think what sets it apart from the explosion of slashers that followed is that the film takes its time creating its atmosphere. The film builds suspense expertly, showing Michael in the background as he waches. And waits. He's there one minute, and not the next. For the first half of the film, nothing really happens - but you just know Michael is around and you are waiting for him to strike. There is one part in particular where 2 of the main characters are talking in a car while driving, and you notice Michael following them for a while. This doesn't really amount to anything, but the film is full of creepy stuff like that and it's great.

Then of course it's knives out and murder time. Surprisingly enough the film isn't gory at all, all of the kills either cut away or are suggested... but it doesn't matter as watching Michael stalk each victim is an exercise in tension and dread. This is all punctuated expertly by Carpenters brilliant and creepy piano score. Oh, and of course we have Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), who is perhaps the ultimate final girl, who realises she is being hunted, saves the kids she is babysitting, and fends off Michael (with a knitting needle to the neck and a coat hanger to the eye - nice!) just long enough for Loomis to save the day. Marvellous.

Halloween is pretty great then, with buckets of atmosphere, great pacing, a creepy score and a streamlined story with no filler. Any issues? Well, some of the performances are a bit on the stiff side, and... don't get me wrong I think Loomis is great, but some of the stuff he comes out with is a bit much. It's borderline theatre! However, my main problem with the film is this. The first half, like I mentioned, has Michael in the background while the story advances in the foreground. Sometimes it is obvious he is there, sometimes it isn't. The film doesn't make a point of telling you, you either notice or you don't. That is awesome. What isn't awesome, is in the second half of the film whenever Michael appears in the background, the score plays this jarring musical motiff that is obviously designed to make the audience jump, like you are on a ghost train or something. That may have been fine for 70's cinema goers who had never seen a slasher before, but today it feels completely at odds with the brilliant build up the first half of the film did. It feels like cheap shock value, and for me it hurts the film significantly. If ONLY it had continued to have him in the background but not shout "LOOK, LOOK, THERE HE IS!!!" evey 5 seconds, we would have had a genuine 10/10 masterpiece on our hands.

Still, despite it dropping the ball a bit it is still an excellent film, and I can totally see why it gets the praise that it does. It's just a shame that none of the (12!!!!) sequels that followed could get anywhere near as good as this first entry...

It has taken me forever to get around to this, as I must admit I'm not a huge fan of demonic possession movies when they are straight-faced, but with this being hailed by many as one of it not THE greatest horror film of all time, I had to see it for myself. I watched the theatrical version.

The Exorcist follows the MacNeil family; actress Chris, her daughter Regan and their various staff and helpers. During the production of the latest film Chris is starring in, Regan begins to display bizarre behaviour. At first the doctors and physcologists that see her believe Regan to have some sort of neurological disorder, but none of their (rather grim, I must add) treatments are successful. Chris begins to suspect that Regan may be possessed, and when people who come into contact with her start dying, Chris goes to the church for help. Thing is, exorcisms haven't been done for centuries, as demonic possession is nonsense, right? Right??????

It's quite hard for me to review a film of this... cultural significance after a single viewing, but I'll try. I bet this was quite the experience back in 73 when it was released, and even today there are many scenes that are still quite disturbing. The film is well shot, the sets are great and the performances are all excellent. Each character is well rounded, has a realistic back story and goes through a definitive arc. You have Chris, who is focused on her work in the beginning but becomes the parent we can all relate to when she will do ANYTHING to save her daughter, we have Regan, a mild mannerd and inquisitive child who quite literally becomes demonic (awesome performance, I must say), and of course we have Father Karrus, an alchoholic priest who is doubting his faith after the death of his mother, but has to pull himself together and do everything in his power to save this girl. Classic redemption.

One thing I really liked about this was the fact that the first half of the film was grounded in the whole 'this can be explained by science' angle, which I wasn't expecting... and the procedures you see Regan go through were quite realistic and almost as horrifying as the later possession stuff. This made the film feel tangible in a way that it wouldn't otherwise. The special effects were also really good for the time, with them pulling out all the stops to make Regan look as horrible as possible. Oh, and of course - Tubular Bells. I mean, come on...

Any negatives? To be honest, not really. I suppose you could say this film is over 50 years old now, and in many ways it looks it - but you can't really criticise a film for looking 50 years old when it is. If anything, it adds to the charm.

Overall, I can totally see why this film is revered as much as it is, and I should imagine it was mind blowing when it was released. Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of demonic possession (hence why my score isn't a touch higher), but The Exorcist is still probably the best example of the genre I have seen.

Often regarded as a 'remake' of Thunderball, this non-EON produced Bond film exists thanks to the rights to the screenplay of Thunderball being a bit... all over the place. Sharing the same basic plot structure and the same characters, Never Say Never Again managed to entice Sean Connery back to the role despite him openly saying previously that he would 'never play James Bond again'. Hence the name of this film. Question is, is it any good?

Personally I think Thunderball is the worst of Connery's Bond films, so this doesn't exactly have a high bar to clear. As I previously mentioned, it has the same basic plot and characters, but that aside the film has a very different feel and many of the settings and action scenes are completely different. Sadly, this is not for the better. Aside from Largo (who is much more sinister and tbh better acted here), everything about this film feels tired and unnecessary. Not helping matters is that Connery is noticably older here (although younger than Roger Moore, funnily enough), meaning the whole thing just feels like an excuse to generate cash from those Connery fans who don't like Moore's interpretation of the character.

You have to wonder what exactly the point in all this was. Thunderball isn't exactly great to begin with, so doing it again but worse just feels... obnoxious. And to think EON rushed Octopussy because they were worried about this. Lol...

Lucy concerns itself with, um...Lucy (Scarlett Johansson), a college girl who finds herself unwillingly swept up in a drug smuggling racket. After having some drugs surgically implanted in her abdomen that rupture, she evolves into the ultimate human, capable of bending reality and time to her will.

To be honest, this film sounds a lot better than it is. I like the concept - the idea of becoming overdosed on what is essentially super strong performance enhancers to become ridiculously good at pretty much everything has huge potential. Imagine if the Matrix and Limitless had a baby and you wouldn't be far off. The problem is that the film bogs itself down with Morgan Freeman giving lectures about the untapped part of the human brain and evolution theory with regards to intelligence, slowing the film to a crawl at times. And when the film constantly darts between a lecture theater and Lucy breaking some faces, it just feels at odds with itself. Oh, and the ending was hugely disappointing.

All in all, it was entertaining enough for the most part, but you can't help but feel like it failed to reach it's full potential. Which is hilariously ironic...

Roger Moore's final Bond outing puts him up against Max Zorrin (Christopher Walken) who plans to monopolise the microchip business by destroying Silicon Valley. Also featuring horses, airships and Grace Jones as Mayday.

My synopsis is very light, and that is largely due to there not being a great deal to say about this. Moore is very obviously phoning it in at this point, and even the usually brilliant Walken is struggling with this uninspired story and script. It's pretty obvious that this franchise is in need of a shakeup, which thankfully was just around the corner. Amazing theme song though...

The Wraith follows a brutal street gang lead by Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes), who terrorize a small Arizona desert town by forcing the locals to participate in street races to win their cars. After the gang murder a local teen, a mysterious biker called Jake (Charlie Sheen) arrives in town, who takes an instant liking to Keri (Sherilyn Fenn), the reluctant girlfiend of Packard. A mysterious car and driver also arrive, who the gang become obsessed with defeating, with deadly consequences. As the gang members begin to fall one by one to the mysterious racer, Keri begins to suspect that the racer may actually be Jake. But who is Jake, really?......

I've gotta say, I thought this film was great. It's so over the top, so ridiculous... almost comic book esq in it's larger than life characters and action scenes that the wonky acting, cheesy dialogue and cliche plot just don't matter in the slightest. In fact it kinda reminds me a bit of the Mad Max films in a way, with it's tone and action obviously being heavily inspired by them. The racing scenes are great, Packard is the perfect love to hate villain, the wraith's car is awesome... oh and the soundtrack is incredible. Genuinely awesome. If you like 80's rock/metal you are gonna be pumped during this. I guarantee it.

I feel this is the sort of thing that is either going to tick your boxes, or you'll just laugh at the absurdity of it all and forget about it. For me though, it's a rocking 80's style good time. You'll know if that sounds like your bag or not...

Triangle follows Jess, a single mother who gets away from it all by going on a sailing trip with her friends. After a freak electrical storm results in their yacht capsizing, they board a passing ocean liner that will hopefully take them to safety. However, the ship seems deserted. A sense of dread overcomes the friends as they explore the creepy halls and decks, and their feelings are confirmed when a masked killer starts taking them out one by one. The remaining friends turn on Jess, saying she's the killer. But why? She's been with them the whole time. Or has she? The nightmare is only just beginning...

I don't want to say too much about this film because the twisting and turning plot is genuinely incredible and the less you know going in the better. Just when you think you have it, in comes another curveball... and the ending genuinely had my jaw on the floor. Honestly, this film gets a 9/10 just purely based on the plot alone, but it doesn't hurt that the performances are all pretty good, the kills and gore effects gruesome but not ott, and there is heaps and heaps of atmosphere. The sets all look great, and the pacing builds nicely as more and more layers of the story are peeled back. Nice!

I watched this film on a whim as it came with a joblot of blu rays I picked up a while back, and I must say it completely blew me away. I am fairly confident over time this will possibly break my top ten horrors of all time. I cannot recommend it highly enough...

Another Roger Moore Bond film, another occasion where I had to read up to remind myself what the plot was as the film is so forgettable: - Octopussy follows Bond investigating the smuggling of treasured artifacts, which leads him to exiled Princes, maniacal soviet generals and the titular Octopussy, the leader of a circus who is implicated with the smuggling. But when the world comes under threat of nuclear war, who's side these people are actually on begins to blur...

Like I said earlier, this film is so painfully generic it hurts. The plot is... passable. The action is... passable. The performances are... passable. The characters are... you guessed it - passable. The film doesn't dare do anything exciting or daring, it feels like when you do an exam in a subject you don't care about, so you do the bare minimum to get the 40% to pass it - that's what this film feels like. It's not even a bad film really, it's just so by the numbers that despite only watching it a few weeks ago I can't remember anything that happened in it. Oh, and you can tell Roger Moore had checked out of the role mentally and was dragged back by a huge paycheck, as they were worried about Sean Connery playing Bond in Never Say Never Again due a few months after this.

"We're on an all time highhhhhh" goes the theme song. Nope, no we are definitely not!

Evil Dead Rise concerns itself with Ellie, single mother of 3 kids who lives in a run down apartment block in L. A. Her estranged sister comes to visit one day, and during the renunion an earthquake reveals the book of the dead, which had been locked away in a secret vault. When one of the kids begins reading the book, the ancient evil is awoken once more and possesses the mother. Suffice to say, chaos ensues....

In a lot of ways I'm somewhat on the fence with this film. The performances were great, the mother in particular being awesome while possessed, the gore effects were also top notch, as were the sets. The whole look and atmosphere of the film is great for sure, and is definitely the highlight.

The problem is that it all feels too familiar, there were zero surprises in terms of plot and the whole thing is extremely predictable... with everything you expect to happen happening. I also feel that the film dropped the ball massively in the final act, with the final.... 'antagonist' shall we say, just being a bit of a stylistic mess.

All in all, the film is decent with great performances, but it just feels like its missing an ingredient or two to really elevate it to greatness. Worth a watch for sure, but I feel like it's the worst film in this franchise.

After a 21 year hiatus (well, if you ignore the TV series), Evil Dead is back with this 4th entry. Serving as a sort of remake / sort of reboot to the franchise, the film follows five friends as they visit a remote cabin in the middle of nowhere. When one of them finds the book of the dead and reads aloud passages from it, an ancient demon is awoken and ends up posessing one of them. Cue murders. And gore. Lots and LOTS of gore...

The original Evil Dead, despite being creepy and full of ott gore maintained a somewhat tongue in cheek vibe and didn't take itself too seriously. This does. With a genuinely unsettling atmosphere, plenty of actually frightening scenes and tonnes of pretty grim kills and gore effects, there is not a gag in sight. There is no light relief here. Combined with an actual decent plot (the friends are trying to help Mia overcome her drug addiction, so won't let her leave no matter how crazy she gets) that actually gives a legitimate reason for them staying, and great performances by the cast, this is actually pretty great. Oh, and the final act not only throws in a bit of a curveball that I challenge anyone to correctly predict, but the final battle is awesome. Just needed a bit of Slayer to top it off, haha.

All in all this is a pretty solid entry into the series. It's well made, has decent performances and some cringeworthy scenes. If you are in the market for some extreme violence and gore, then look no further. For me personally though, I do like my Evil Dead films to have a bit of humour...

After being transported to the middle ages at the end of Evil Dead 2, Ash finds himself caught between rival kingdoms as they go to war. But there is a new threat - deadites threaten both sides, as well as all of humanity. Cast out as an abomination or spy, Ash soon proves himself by single-handedly killing a deadite after being left for dead. He is then sent on a mission to recover the Necronomicon, as it is the only way to vanquish the evil and for Ash to return home.

The original Evil Dead was a pretty serious horror affair with some completely ridiculous gore, and the second film pumped the gore up to overload but balanced the shocks out with comedy. This third entry dials back the gore to focus its efforts purely on the comedy and action, and I have to say it is extremely enjoyable. Ash is an amazing anti-hero, with great lines and questionable morals, and some of the set pieces and action scenes are awesome. The deadites look great, and you can tell this film had a much bigger budget and the creators had more experience as everything is grander and more fleshed out.

The thing is though, you kinda get this feeling that this film is sacrificing part of its identity for the sake of broader appeal. Despite avoiding many plot cliches that you'd come to expect from a film like this (especially if you watch the director's cut with the originally intended ending), it just feels a bit too silly, a bit too comical.... and the ridiculous over the top gore just isn't there to teeter the film into intentional satire.

If you are in the mood for an early 90's action movie that doesn't take itself seriously whatsoever, has some great effects and awesome one-liners... then Army of Darkness delivers in spades. However, in my opinion at least in terms of striking that perfect balance of action, comedy and horror - the second film has it beat...

Serving as a sort of remake, sort of sequel to the original Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2 condenses a revised version of the original film into the first act, before taking the end of the previous film and expanding it into an absolutely ridiculous and slapstick gore fest, with Ash just trying to survive the night.

Ash and his girlfriend Linda go to a cabin retreat in the middle of nowhere (sans their 3 friends), and find a recording of an archeologist who had recorded himself chanting passages from the book of the dead. Playing this back awakens an ancient evil, which possesses Linda - and what ensures is probably one of the greatest comedy/horrors ever put to celluloid.

I liked the Evil Dead, but its shoestring budget and obviously inexperienced makers held it back. Evil Dead 2, I think its fair to say, is probably the film they wished they could have made in the first place. It has a much bigger budget, much better effects, a better script... and the addition of intentional comedy makes it stand out among the sea of other 80's horror films that take place in a cabin in the woods. Bruce Campbell is great as Ash here, and its a good job too as his character pretty much carries this whole film. Even the ending is a bizarre little scenario which has you simultaneously going "what the ****" while also wondering how any potential sequel may work.

All in all, Evil Dead 2 is great fun. It's silly yet disgusting, campy yet well made, funny yet horrifying.... and in my opinion is easily the best film in this series.

This classic low budget gore fest follows 5 friends as they travel to a secluded cabin retreat in the middle of nowhere for the weekend. While there they accidentally awaken an ancient evil force from the surrounding forest, that gradually begins to take them over one by one and turn them on each other. With no way out and limited resources, will the emerging hero Ash survive the seemingly endless night?

I first saw this film so long ago I could barely remember it, but it is still great fun. It looks like it must have only cost a few thousand quid to make, but that being said it still manages to be quite engaging. The acting and dialogue is obviously very low quality, with the performances offering laughs for all the wrong reasons, but somehow it remains endearing. The story is ridiculous and the location cliche, but Raimi and co make the most of it all with some awesome first person camera shots from the point of view of the evil, along with some spectacular and comical gore effects.

If you like the idea of somewhat tongue in cheek horror with splattering blood galore, then you can do far worse than check this out.

Following on from the surprisingly good Ghostbusters Afterlife, Frozen Empire follows the Groobersons/Spenglers as they hunt ghosts in New York City after relocating to the original Ghostbusters' headquarters. After a particularly messy bust results in a lot of damage to the city, the now Mayor Walter Peck decides to impose some sanctions on the family - namely by not allowing Phoebe to participate, as she is just a minor. Distancing herself from the rest of the crew, she spends time with a young ghost who is trapped in purgatory, and also Ray Stanz's occult bookstore. But when Ray comes into the posession of an ancient artifact that could bring about the destruction of humanity, the Ghostbusters will need all the help they can get, past and present....

After enjoying the previous film (despite its flaws), I was quite excited to see where they would go with these new characters. Taking the action back to New York was a smart move, as it nicely scratches that nostalgia itch without it going overboard (one of my main criticisms of Afterlife). The characters all work together well and are likeable, the story is, well... typical Ghostbusters... and the special effects are great.

There were quite a few little tidbits here that I really liked. I liked how the original characters all had proper purpose - Ray has his knowledge and his bookstore and acts as an info resource, Venkman is a consultant who helps with any phsychic investigations, and Winston is the millionaire who funds a giant Ghostbusters research facility. It goes beyond them just having nostalgic cameos for the sake of it. And speaking of the facility, they have various different ghosts they are studying and interacting with, which is quite cool.

However, the film does have issues. A lot of the time it struggles to be funny, with a lot of the gags falling flat. I know these actors can be funny, they just need to have a better script written for them. The only actor who lands his gags consistently is, unsurprisingly, Bill Murray. I know he ad-libs a lot in his films, so if he did here that may explain why, but he stands out against an otherwise largely unfunny experience.

Another issue is the Phoebe/Melody sub plot, which felt hugely out of place and I wouldn't be surprised if it were included to tick a box somewhere. Why does this ghost look like a normal human when practically EVERY other ghost in this franchise is grotesque? Like a said, it feels out of place and grinds the pacing to a crawl.

But by far the biggest problem, is that there are just far too many characters. At the climax of the film there are 11, yes ELEVEN Ghostbusters, and they are all fighting for screentime so bad the film completely loses its focus in the final act. In fact the final act in general felt a bit limp - they built up this main adversary who went down far too easy.

All in all, this film feels more like a Ghostbusters celebration rather than a meaningful story extension, which is fine because I love this franchise and these characters, but still they seem to struggle to stand up to the sheer genius, brilliance, and perfectly executed first film. From here they need to dial it back a bit, focus on the new characters and streamline the plot. Oh, and for the love of God PLEASE get someone in who can write decent gags....

Following on directly from the first AvP film, a deadly Predator/Alien hybrid is born from the corpse of the Predator being transported back home on the Predator Ship. Rapidly taking out the Predators on board and causing it to crash back to Earth, it runs amok in a small US town. The ship was also carrying a bunch of facehuggers in cryo which escape, resulting in an inevitable alien infestation. Back on the Predator's homeworld, a distress call from the doomed ship is received, and a lone elder Predator travels to earth to clean up the mess. Oh, and there are also some annoying human characters being dumb and unlikable.

This film was utterly panned at the time by both critics and audiences, and with good reason. The first and most obvious problem is how the film is shot. There seems to be this weird saturation filter over everything (no doubt to hide the poor fx), making everything look overly dark. Even broad daylight looks dark, and during the night-time scenes you may as well shut your eyes. On top of that, the action scenes feature vast amounts of camera cut aways, meaning you never really get a proper handle on anything that is happening. You just give up after a while.

Adding to the woe are the characters and performances. The characters feel like they are straight out of a low budget teen slasher, complete with questionable behaviour and grating dialogue. Am I supposed to care about these people? Because I don't. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be rooting for the aliens, but the humans are so obnoxious you have no choice.

One of the main criticisms levelled at the original AvP was its lack of gore. They obviously took that on board, because this film is gore overload. However, it's... just too much. It's overkill. There is no nuance with it, this film is just disgusting to the point where it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I never thought I'd ever see a film where I had a problem with the gore, but here we are...

So, AvP:R is pretty much a disaster in every way, right? Mostly, yes... but the film does have one redeeming feature. The Predator. Dubbed "Wolf" (no doubt a reference to Harvey Keitel's character in Pulp Fiction), watching him investigate the crashed ship, before following the carnage trail and utterly folding any Aliens (and unfortunate humans) who get in his way is a legitimate joy, and if the film had focused more of it's time on him rather than the pointless teen angst it may have fared a bit better. It's annoying, as the concept of a clean-up Predator sent to sort out a hunt gone wrong is a genuinely good idea, it's just a shame that the rest of the film is a huge mess. There is the DNA of a good film buried in here, but sadly its diluted out by awful characters, visuals, direction and tasteless gore.

Based on the popular video game series of the same name, Uncharted follows a young Nathan Drake, street smart and cheeky upstart who steals stuff he shouldn't and chats up women he definitely shouldn't. Enter Sully, a wise cracking artifact hunter who takes Drake under his wing, as he a) knew his older brother, and b) needs help finding the ultimate in lost treasure. Of course its never simple, and the pair get double crossed, shot at, and drive a car out of a cargo plane mid flight. Obviously none of this is to be taken seriously....

I do like the video games this is based on, and in many ways a film adaptation is in no way surprising. The bombastic set piece heavy video game should, on paper at least, lend itself quite nicely to film. The problem is that the film just feels... shallow. It lifts set pieces from the games pretty much wholesale and ties them together with the most generic plot possible. Not helping matters is the fact that the characters are horrendously mis-cast. I like Tom Holland, but as a fan of the games he just doesn't FEEL like the Nathan Drake I know. Mark Wahlberg is too young to play Sully, and I get that this is an origin story of sorts so the characters will be young, but you can't help but feel that he would be much more suited to playing Drake himself.

It's not a bad film by any means, but it feels like a cynical "look game fans - here's that series you like" and "look kids, it's Spider-Man" attempt to generate cash instead of producing a worthy adaptation. Must do better...

For Your Eyes Only follows Bond as he attempts to recover a missile launching system that was lost when the British boat is was on sank. He teams up with the daughter of another agent who was murdered while also trying to recover it. Cue action, skiing, underwater robot suits and a cliff climbing finale. Oh, and the Lotus is back!

I have to say, I had to look up just now what actually happened in this film as I had completely forgotten the plot. That being said, I remember quite enjoying this - it feels like a 'Bond greatest hits' of sorts, which makes sense as it was supposedly cobbled together from unused parts of several novels. Bond's love interest being a girl who was significantly younger than Roger Moore feels a bit.... off... but aside from that For Your Eyes Only is enjoyable enough if a tad unremarkable...

A staple of OTT 80's action nonsense, Commando follows retired ex special forces colonel John Matrix who is living in isolation with his daughter. One day, they are attacked and captured by the private army of a former south American dictator, who wants Matrix to perform a political assassination so he can return to power. They take his daughter away to a secret location and threaten to kill her if he doesn't cooperate. However, Matrix has other ideas, and so we have huge explosions, over the top action and excessive violence in ways only 80's action movies can do justice.

I must say I wasn't a massive fan of this when I was younger, I found it just a bit too silly and tongue in cheek... but funnily enough it's those qualities that make me love it today. Schwarzenegger is awesome in the title role, and you really start rooting for him as he rips his way through bad guy after bad guy trying to save his daughter. Despite the violence the film is actually quite humerous, with funny lines and larger than life characters (Matrix's former friend and main antagonist Bennett is so over the top its hilarious). In fact the only downside really was the stewardess character who tags along, who just got on my nerves very quickly. Why do they always do that?

This particular version of the film I watched was the uncut Director's Cut, which is I believe the first time this has become officially available in the UK. It doesn't really add that much to be fair, there's no extra scenes or dialogue that I noticed - all it adds really is extra gore and extended kill scenes in the final act, that were cut when the film was originally theatrically released here . Still, it's nice being able to see the complete film finally.

All in all, Commando is great fun and is pretty much the epitome of everything 80's. If this sounds like your thing, get it watched immediately!

Alien vs Predator as a concept goes all the way back to 1989, when Dark Horse comics pitted the 2 extraterrestrial monsters against each other in a pretty awesome comic run. Since then we have had books, toys, video games... but it took almost 15 years to finally get a film adaptation. Was it worth the wait? Well, it was directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, so you probably have a fair idea...

The film followes a group of various researchers lead by Charles Weyland, as they investigate a newly discovered pyramid structure buried deep underground in Antarctica. While noisily and haphazardly clanging about the structure, they discover some alien eggs, which of course result in impregnation, followed by aliens. Then some predators show up, because it turns out that this is an ancient hunting ground for young predators to prove their worth. And so begins a battle between the predators and aliens, with the humans mostly just getting in the way. Except for our final girl Lex, who goes all stern faced and does her very best Ripley impression while battling a queen. With just a tank top on. In the Arctic. Hmmm...

I wasn't very impressed with this film when it first came out. I felt the story was... eh... the characters... meh... and the film suffered hugely from it's PG13 rating, meaning massively toned down violence from what we have come to expect from these IPs. However, I have recently watched it again (the unrated version this time) and it is marginly better than I remember. The action scenes are enjoyable enough and I quite like the setting, with the ever shifting pyramid providing a nice sense of isolation and claustrophobia. The characters aren't as annoying as I remember either, with the main alien and predators being fun to watch. Even the final battle (stupid dress sense aside) is quite entertaining, with Lex and the predator working together to take on the queen.

It still has issues though, the characters have no depth or development, the dialogue is about as natural as blue hair, and the CGI effects... well lets just say they have aged. I'm not a big fan of all the slow mo effects either, which in hindsight is a bit of a Paul Anderson staple, like he's trying to be John Woo or something.

Overall it's a passable experience with some good moments, but ultimately feels like it falls a bit short. If you are up for a bit of a brainless slug fest between 2 of the most iconic cinematic monsters in recent memory, it delivers... just... but can't hold a candle to the best entries in either individual series. On the plus side though, it is miles better than its sequel...

Trick R Treat is a horror anthology film following several groups of people on halloween night, and shows how their stories interlink during all the murders and whatnot. You have a couple coming home from a party, a weird dude and his kid, their grumpy old next door neighbour, a bunch of girls getting ready for a night out, and a group of kids who go to a suspected haunted quarry. I guarantee you won't see some of these twists coming...

I must say I really enjoyed this. The way the different characters and stories cross paths is genuinely brilliant, there's some pretty nasty kills and the effects are pretty great. All the stories are excellent, and how it throws you off by making you think certain people are helpless horror kill fodder when they are in fact extremely deadly, and vice versa is awesome. This film is a genuine must watch.

Set 11 years after the first film (but coming out after only 7???), Skynet once again send a terminator back in time, targetting John Connor when he is a child. The resistance also send back a protector, but this time instead of being a human, it is another terminator. The question is, which one will reach him first?

Where do you even start with such an absolute classic? Lauded by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest action films of all time, in a similar way to how James Cameron followed the horror focused Alien with the more action packed Aliens 7 years later, T2 takes the slasher-esq first terminator and dials everything up to 11. Amazing and exciting action scenes, some awesome performances (especially by Robert Patrick, who played the soulless T-1000 to absolute perfection), great characters and a story that doesn't mess up the perfect plot of the first film, Terminator 2 ticks ALL the boxes. It has an amazing soundtrack, the special effects were utterly groundbreaking... and they STILL look great even today. But the icing on the cake is the fact that the story is genuinely great, and full of heart. I challenge anyone to not shed a tear at the end.

It really goes without saying, but Terminator 2: Judgement Day is an incredible sequel to an already incredible first film, and is a legitimate contender for not only being the greatest action film ever made, but one of the greatest films ever made in general. Obviously this is essential viewing.

Following on directly from where part one left off, Dune Part Two once again follows Paul Atreides as he becomes accepted by the Fremen, learns their ways and becomes their leader in an uprising against the emperor and the ruthless Harkonen. But when his actions begin to push away his true love, he has to decide whether to embrace his fate, or follow his heart...

I quite enjoyed part one of this sci fi epic, so going to see this follow up was a no-brainer, despite it knocking on the door of 3 hours. As before it's epic in scale, with amazing visuals and rolling endless desert vistas. The performances were good, and even though the story begins to lean heavily into a somewhat religious style angle, the set pieces and action was still top drawer. The only downside really is I feel this almost 6 hour story could have done with a truly epic finale to really blow the audience away, whereas what we get felt a bit... anticlimactic. Having said that, there is definitely room for more follow ups, so it will be interesting to see where they go from here. Recommended.

Having not yet read the novel on which this is based, the only previous experience I had with Dune is the 80's effort by David Lynch, which I vaguely recall not being overly impressed with. However, general consensus is that this new effort by Denis Villeneuve is spectacular, so I decided to give this a shot, which unlike Lynch's version is only based on the first half of the novel.

Dune (part 1) follows the Atreides family, specifically the son and heir to the family throne, Paul. The family are tasked by the emperor to travel to the planet Arakkis, which is rich in the most valuable mineral in the galaxy - spice. However, Arakkis is an extremely harsh planet, with it's desert wasteland being battered by horrendous weather and even worse wildlife. The Atreidis family are tasked with looking after the harvesting, purifying and distribution of spice, but when they are betrayed and nearly all killed by the emperors forces, Paul and his mother escape into the desert, finding solitude with the indigenous Fremen, a tribe of people who call Arakkis their home. Can Paul befriend the people of this planet, rise up to take revenge against those who killed his family and lead the Fremen to a better life? You know the answer...

I must say that from a visual standpoint, this film is incredible. The endless desert vistas, futuristic yet ancient technology and effects on the deadly sandworms had my jaw on the floor. The film looks futuristic, but also lived in like only the best sci fi movies can. All the performances are really good, and Villeneuve wisely chose to split the book into 2 films so he could properly take the time to build up the characters and their relations. However, the downside of that also means this film ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, but even so I'd still take this approach over trying to cram everything in to one movie. Having said that, some of the finer plot details were still lost on me, so perhaps reading the book is still recommended.

Overall this is a great film that I assume does its source material justice, and it will be interesting to see how it all comes together once the second part is released.

After the rather excellent Spy Who Loved Me, the next film in the series was supposed to be For Your Eyes Only. But then... Star Wars happened, and of course suddenly everyone and their dog wanted to jump on the Sci Fi Space Adventure bandwagon. Enter Moonraker, a Bond film that shares very little in common with its source material (last time that happened the results were less than spectacular), and brings back Jaws from the previous film. How did it turn out? ....meh....

The film follows Bond as he investigates a stolen spacecraft (what, again? Seems space shuttles are easier to steal than cars if the Bond franchise is anything to go by...) and ends up at the door of Hugo Drax, owner of the company that makes them. Of course it all ends up being a diabolical scheme where the select elite are kept safe in space while the rest of the world is nuked. Yawn.

To be fair though, the opening of this film is awesome, with a genuinely great skydiving battle against Jaws. Sadly, the rest of the film isn't nearly as good, and it does feel like a bit of a "space cash in", which of course it is. A couple of action scenes aside the film is fairly forgettable. And Jaws talks. And falls in love. Urgh.

To summarise, it's not exactly terrible, but is mid tier at best. Sadly, the rest of Roger Moore's Bond film output didn't get that much better from here...