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Blood Red Sky: Don't skyjack a jet when there's a Vampire on board. But how were they to know; the woman presented as suffering from leukemia. Also if you're going to hijack a plane for complex reasons carry out rudimentary checks to ensure that none of your gang members are psychotic. Bookended by scenes at an airport when the compromised jet has landed, the flashbacks tell a tale of horror. The Vampire is well imagined when she reveals herself, savage looking and acting, but it's mostly a controlled violence. As she clashes with the hijackers some of then turn. The jet becomes a battleground from ducts to the cargo hold through to the cabins and cockpit. Not so much jump shocks as sheer terror of being trapped in a tube at 40,000 feet. The vampires back story is revealed in nested flashbacks. Good Horror Thriller. Directed/Co-written by Peter Thorwarth. On Netflix. 7/10.

Hugely entertaining movie! Loved the transformation from Serana out of Skyrim into full-on Nosferatu!
Didn't 12 year old Carl Koch play an absolute blinder too?
Best vampire movie since Only Lovers Left Alive.
8/10 in my book.
 
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Old: Four families/couples end up on a strange beach attached to an exclusive resort and yes: they are all unhappy in their own ways. This along with illnesses contribute to their distress when they find that time is speeding up for them. They first notice it as the ageing process is more apparent in children but soon a elderly woman dies. Attempts to escape are baffled as they are repulsed by a gap in the cliffs and strong currents. People age two years for each passing hour. While there are a couple of jump shocks the horror here is mostly of a psychological nature, as existential terror spreads amongst them, children become adults, paranoid schizophrenia leads to murder (some violence here). Some good performances from an ensemble cast, especially Rufus Sewell as a demented doctor. Some of the usual tropes do crop up, they all found out about the resort accidentally and the resort manager promises them that it's a special beach (warning bells!). A satisfying horror/thriller/mystery which has secrets revealed towards the end. Written & Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. 8/10.
 
Last night's dose of horror on Prime Video was A Gruta / The Grotto.

The premise of this 2020 Brazilian horror is that a group of 5 explore a supposedly cursed cave system and only one makes it out alive.
Whilst recovering from his injuries in hospital, he is accused of murdering the others. He subsequently claims it was down to his wife suffering from demonic possession and turns to a (rather unconvincing) nun to help substantiate his story.
The film tries to keep you guessing, but becomes increasingly hard to follow, with a few make-you-jump moments and body-horror thrown in feeling utterly incoherent and not advancing the story at all.
Couple this with some of the worst dubbing you will ever hear and A Gruta was, for me, a thoroughly confusing and unsatisfactory mess of a B movie.
You'll be left scratching your head at the end - both for what did it all mean and why did you waste 100 minutes of your life on this complete shambles.
2/10.
 
Shadow in the Cloud (2020).
This New Zealand fantasy horror has just made it onto Prime Video. It plays rather like a WW2 re-imaging of the famous Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".
A woman flight officer carrying a top secret package hitches a ride on a B-17 bomber.
The crew are suspicious of her and confine her to the machine gun turret until they can verify her credentials.
Whilst there, she spots something crawling on the wing. Yes - it's a gremlin and, just as William Shatner found in the Twilight Zone, no-one believes her - until it's almost too late.
The creature looks suitably grotesque and there's some reasonable action along the way, but the script descends into a rather crass war of the sexes, with the male crew being almost exclusively boorish misogynists, and the big reveal about what's in the box will likely elicit hoots of derision from most viewers.
On IMDB, its current rating is 4.8/10 and I reckon that's just about right.

gremlin.JPG


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9691136/
 
Animales Humanos on Prime Video.

"Human Animals" is a 2020 Mexican home invasion movie, featuring a middle class family whose young daughter gets badly bitten by the next-door neighbours' dog. The girl's father complains to his brother, who has a high-ranking position with the local authorities, and the dog is seized and destroyed.
The neighbours turn out to be fanatical animal rights' activists, living under assumed names, and their revenge is exceedingly nasty.
No further spoilers, but expect lots of tension, a few make-you-jump moments, fair bit of gore and something of a jaw-dropping finale.
Marred a bit by a few of the main characters making utterly illogical decisions but, overall, if you enjoy the rather oversubscribed home invasion thriller genre, then this is a decent example.
My rating: 7/10

film.JPG
 
Aftermath: A couple with a troubled relationship buy a house where a murder/suicide took place which they get at a bargain price. The husband heads a crew which cleans up crime sites and yes they looked after that job. Strange things start to happen, their dog seemingly barks at nothing, won't go upstairs. things disappear and reappear in different paces. Identity theft occurs. In this case the mundane rather than mondo events seem more threatening as a gradual aura of dread builds up. The oddities become eerier and nastier, a woman hiding in a walk in closet is dragged backwards through the hanging clothes. Red herrings are strewn as possible culprits are introduced but there are several levels to this narrative of terror with a couple of interesting plot twists. Nothing particularly original about this tale but it's well told and worth watching. Directed and co-written by Peter Winther. On Netflix. 7/10.
 
Aftermath: A couple with a troubled relationship buy a house where a murder/suicide took place which they get at a bargain price. The husband heads a crew which cleans up crime sites and yes they looked after that job. Strange things start to happen, their dog seemingly barks at nothing, won't go upstairs. things disappear and reappear in different paces. Identity theft occurs. In this case the mundane rather than mondo events seem more threatening as a gradual aura of dread builds up. The oddities become eerier and nastier, a woman hiding in a walk in closet is dragged backwards through the hanging clothes. Red herrings are strewn as possible culprits are introduced but there are several levels to this narrative of terror with a couple of interesting plot twists. Nothing particularly original about this tale but it's well told and worth watching. Directed and co-written by Peter Winther. On Netflix. 7/10.

Coincidentally we watched this last night.
Enjoyed it enough to Google the supposed "real events" that inspired it.
Looks like the core of the story was real enough, but with several embellishments, possibly lifted from the movie "Freehold".
7/10 is probably fair enough but, just as with the other home invasion movie I reviewed a couple of posts above, illogical behaviour by the main actors (and a couple of plot holes) just took the edge off it for me.
 
Coincidentally we watched this last night.
Enjoyed it enough to Google the supposed "real events" that inspired it.
Looks like the core of the story was real enough, but with several embellishments, possibly lifted from the movie "Freehold".
7/10 is probably fair enough but, just as with the other home invasion movie I reviewed a couple of posts above, illogical behaviour by the main actors (and a couple of plot holes) just took the edge off it for me.

It could have been tightened up a bit as well, maybe shave 15 minutes off the running time.
 
Shadow in the Cloud (2020).
This New Zealand fantasy horror has just made it onto Prime Video. It plays rather like a WW2 re-imaging of the famous Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".
A woman flight officer carrying a top secret package hitches a ride on a B-17 bomber.
The crew are suspicious of her and confine her to the machine gun turret until they can verify her credentials.
Whilst there, she spots something crawling on the wing. Yes - it's a gremlin and, just as William Shatner found in the Twilight Zone, no-one believes her - until it's almost too late.
The creature looks suitably grotesque and there's some reasonable action along the way, but the script descends into a rather crass war of the sexes, with the male crew being almost exclusively boorish misogynists, and the big reveal about what's in the box will likely elicit hoots of derision from most viewers.
On IMDB, its current rating is 4.8/10 and I reckon that's just about right.

View attachment 42870

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9691136/
I've just watched this movie. It's very much a movie of two halves, and like you, the first half feels as though someone saw greater potential in the classic Twilight Zone episode. Literally, for half the movie, we are with Chloë Grace Moretz character in the ball turret as she watches the brilliantly chiropteran gremlin tear away bits of plane, fends off attacks by it and Japanese planes, and listens to what's occurring to the airmen above her. Had this been the entire movie, it could have been a modern masterpiece of tense cinema. I was even second guessing what would happen next, expecting the gremlin to suddenly appear chewing on an airman's arm, or her panic when she doesn't know if anyone else is alive. Alas, the second half of the movie has her performing improbable feats of human strength and endurance that would make John McClane and Ethan Hunt hang up their testicles and take up crocheting. From that point on, it becomes pretty standard, all the more disappointing for what it could have been. First forty minutes or so, 8/10. Second half, 4/10.
 
The Swarm: Quirky French film about a female farmer raising locusts as animal feed. Times are tough and it's difficult for her make a living and support her children. By chance she discovers that the locusts thrive on blood, when she can't get animal blood she uses her own then feeds animals to them. Also elements of satire and social commentary about how small farmers literally have the blood sucked out of them. But horror it is, with the locusts developing a taste for blood and attacking a goat, no kidding around as they swarm. There is something really eerie about the way the locusts literally take over the farm and eventually escape. Rather disturbing than outright jump shocks. This ain't cricket. Might have been a better film with ten minutes shaved off of it's 1h 40m running time. Directed by Just Philippot from a script by Frank Victor. On Netflix. 7/10.
 
Son: Laura/Anna (Andi Matchiak) fled from a cult eight yeas ago, now her new identity may have been blown as the cult pursue her once again. Her son develops a strange illness, coughing blood, rashes, boils; doctors can't find any explanation for the sickness. A detective, Paul (Emile Hirsch) believes and supports Laura when others are sceptical. She has visions/dreams of cultic symbols and the phrase "He Is Coming", the cult saw her son David (Luke David Blumm) as a harbinger of evil power for them, an Antichrist. A chase across Kansas and Arkansas ensues, churches everywhere, religious phrases in neon (I almost expected to see God Hates Fangs), grim bible belt country. Gruesome murders take place but this is the least of the horror as cannibalism occurs and we see a man being literally eaten alive. What really happened during Laura's time in the cult is crucial to the unfolding of the narrative and there are a couple of plot twists. Good occult/cult horror thriller with a great performance by Blumm as David. Written/Directed by Ivan Kavanagh. 8/10.

In cinemas.
 
After Midnight.

This rather strange movie has just made it onto Prime Video.
Part creature-feature, part rom-com, it takes quirkiness to whole new extremes.
Hank's long-time girlfriend disappears and, as he descends into despair and alcoholism, he starts to get nightly visits from - something.
But is the creature real, or is Hank simply losing it?
Despite some uneven pacing, it's definitely worth staying the modest 83 minute run-time to find out.
Features one of the most effective make-you-jump moments ever, which made my wife yelp and jump off the sofa, spilling tea, iPad and cat.
A solid 7/10 in my book.


midnight.JPG
 
Boys from County Hell This has it all, rough farmland, better for growing rocks than anything else, a young man at odds with his builder father, an accidental death, bored young people, a small country town. This along with Bram Stoker's visit to the town (he got the inspiration for Dracula from a local Vampire) provides the material for Beckettian Bog Horror/Comedy Film set in the Six Counties Townland of Six Mile Bridge. The grave of the long dead Vampire Abhartach is topped by a cairn of stones which has blood spilled on it when a bull crushes a man against it. This results in Vampires arising (via a novel method) and biting peoples throats out. Eventually Abhartach himself is woken when a motorway by-pass results in his cairn being knocked over. This is very dark comedy not at all leavened by the vampire attacks and people being struck with hatchets (nevertheless an impaled Vampire provides chuckles). The dialogue is hilarious though and I hope the Northern Irish humour travels. Well imagined Vampires including a Father Jack style drunken watchman. Directed/Co-Written by Chris Baugh. 8/10.
 
Thanks! Is the Irish vampire a thing in folklore? I read somewhere he was a bloodsucking dwarf or something?
 
Don't Breathe 2: The Blind Man, Norman (Stephen Lang) is back, eight years after the events in DB1. He's looking after a young girl, Phoenix (Madelyn Grace) who survived a fire, posing as her father, training her in escape techniques. There are organ-leggers about and a gang comes after Phoenix killing a friend of Norman's and laying siege to their home. Things turn out to be more difficult than they anticipated. Some really savage violence as people are stabbed, shot, impaled with pitchforks, burned to death and heads battered in with shovels. Well staged scenes as Normans hands crash through a window and grab a crook, the hunts through the house and other buildings are impressive as Lang uses his other senses to thwart the gang members. Grace puts in a good performance with not just her hide and escape skills but also her ability to use violence. The bleak urbanscape of Detroit has a Post-Apocalyptic feel to it and it seems plausible that organlegging would occur there. This isn't as good as Don't Breathe (not as much tension) but it is satisfying thriller with some interesting twists. Directed by Rodo Sayagues, written by Sayagues and Fede Alvarez. 6.5/10.

In cinemas.
 
Just watched Canadian 2020 horror Hunter Hunter on its Sky premier.

**** Warning Thematic spoilers ahead ****

Off-grid hillbilly family ekes out a meagre living by selling animal furs.
The husband suspects a rogue wolf is in the area and tells his wife and daughter to stay at home whilst he hunts it.
So far, so mild thriller territory I thought.
The movie blindsided me a bit though when it went off on a tangential direction and I then had to pick my jaw off the floor when it descended abruptly into a hefty slab of French-style (Martyrs etc.) torture porn.

Probably the most OTT gore-fest I've seen this year.

A couple of big questions left unanswered at the end though.

Only watch if you have a strong stomach.

Maybe 6/10 for its sheer bloody audacity!
 
Villains: Mickey and Jules (a bit like Pumpkin & Honeybunny in Pulp Fiction) rob a gas station and head for Florida but their car runs out of gas in the middle of wood. Finding an isolated house they break in but find a young girl chained in the basement. Th house owners, Sweetiepie and Gloria return and things turn strange. A battle ensues between the two couples, it's not just a life and death scenario for Mickey and Jules but also for the girl. Elements of black comedy and horror meld with a thriller and tension mounts as you never know what the deranged residents will do next. The mystery of the girl in the cellar and the real motivations of Sweetiepie and Gloria are explored as the narrative unfolds and heads towards a grand guignol denouement. Directed/Written by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen. On Netflix. 7/10.
 
Jakob’s Wife (2021). Starring Barbara Crampton (she is also producer). For all of you Barbara Crampton fans, you’ll love this one. A fun and entertaining movie about a mouse of a woman who comes into her own. I won’t say any more, just watch it. On Shudder. 8/10.
 
I was surprised to see Dave Made a Maze turn up on Shudder. I wouldn't have thought of it as a horror movie. However, I enjoyed it and will probably watch it again now it's free (I think I originally paid for it on Amazon Prime).
 
I was surprised to see Dave Made a Maze turn up on Shudder. I wouldn't have thought of it as a horror movie. However, I enjoyed it and will probably watch it again now it's free (I think I originally paid for it on Amazon Prime).
I liked that film because of the entire weird concept but I didn't like it as much as I wanted to .. I think it was because the cast were a bit hipster/New York generation. Other than that, the set designs were amazing, the ending was surprisingly good, the 'gore' scenes were creative .. I can't even remember how it ended but it was very well crafted.
 
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