Director: Various Starring: Various Worldwide. 1h m
Despite setting records on the Shudder platform, there’s a lot lacking from this instalment of the VHS series, however maybe there was a gap in the market, as this came out during the height of yet another lockdown! leaving it with reviews swaying from weak to the best of the series? Being a total marmite chapter lets me dive deep into it. The wrap-around for this anthology-found footage compilation follows a SWAT team stumbling on a sinister VHS cult and the underground compound, for all of the other wraps it’s one of the strangest as we don’t really see the team settling into the movies like the rest.
Director: Jacob Gentry Starring: Harry Shum Jr, Kelley Mack, Chris Sullivan, Anthony E Cabral .USA. 1h 44m
Jacobs Gentry’s uncanny valley neon lit thriller is a great diversion for horror fans, but unlike other broadcast horrors it fails to give a satisfactory conclusion to its own question but will raise eyebrows though it’s stunning display of solid drama and a deep dive investigation.
While logging tapes of retro TV Broadcasts, a video archivist, James (Shum Jr.) discovers a disturbing clip that he believes is a sign of early hacking, out of his armchair investigation, James is innocently trying to track down the source but it turns into a deadly cat and mouse chair that night lead to solving a slew of murders.
Director: Gary Nelson Starring: Maximillan Schell, Joseph Bottoms, Robert Forster, Yvette Mimieux, Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Perkins. USA. 1h 38m
Black Hole is one of those gems from my childhood that, no matter how advanced space exploration has become, or my personal knowledge about the universe has grown, I can always return to Black Hole with a wonderment and fascination that takes me back to my youth and just makes me believe we’ll reach the stars one day.
It’s very much a Disney version of 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968) or possibly their first attempt to jump into the Star Wars universe? The original story was conceived as a space themed disaster movie, but after being re-written several times and then adopted by a moderately desperate Disney for additional computerised camera technology to create the effects it slowly grew into a highly ambitious space opera. The Black Hole was finally reborn for it’s dismal box office failure not that this takes anything away from the films unique philosophy and small cult following, it still delivers a quirky look into space exploration and the mysteries of a black hole with lots of fancy additions, cute robots, sinister robots, and the moral questions that hangover he heads of those men who are willing to sacrifice everything to step into the true unknown . Continue reading The Black Hole (1979)→
Director: José Padilha Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Keaton, Gary Oldman, Michael Kenneth Williams, Abbie Cornish . USA. 1h 57m
It’s taken me a long time to watch this as I have such a deep connection with the original film, for me Robocop is a saint and I was almost insulted that anyone would dare to remake the movie, but this is a very loose remake that pretty much relies on you having seen the original too get make sense of some of the benial content. But don’t take my low rating as a sign that I am a total fangirl of the Verhoeven classic, I have taken a lot of energy to think outside of my little box.
In this rendition of the tragic life of Alex Murphy (Kinnaman), he’s a brilliant righteous cop who is on a questionable case that keeps giving him and his partner Lewis (Williams) the slip. Continue reading Robocop (2014)→
A short stop motion sci fi story, written and directed by Justin Nixon that tells a warming story about a family of robots living in a desert dystopia. After a tragedy in the family they go to their local “church” to get help but ACCESS DENIED this spurs the family to discover the truth behind dark secret of the faith. On a small budget of $5000 raised by a Crowdfund, Nixon has created an extremely poignant story that displays strong will that doesn’t follow the the crowd and questions dogmatic views. It’s incredibly detailed and what stands out is that this futuristic robotic story is based in a wild west background with a strong theological core.
I’ve done a few Horror collections so now it’s time for some sci fi, and this is really where things can get quite technical when it comes to short stories.
I have been a fan of sci fi since I really started watching films as a kid, with the The Thing (1982) and Alien(1979) being two of my earliest favourites. We’ve come a long way but our thirst for predicting the future has never faded and it’s always interesting to see what the raw and imaginative directors can come up with in the most creative movie art form.
All of these short movies come from a Youtube Channel Called CGBros I’ll try and add a link in here somewhere.
Mech: Human Trials Director: Patrick Kalyn Duration: 5.52 Starring: Steve Baran. ???. 2015
Despite not being a 110% original idea this dramatic short plays out more of an intro to something much bigger and it does look like the experienced director Patrick Kalyn, who’s worked on films such as District 9 (2009) and Avatar (2009) will be bringing into fruition this year. So what’s all the fuss about, the main protagonist, has always wanted to be somebody and in this pursuit he becomes addicted to a new drug, called Mech, which starts to morph him into something that belongs in any 90’s Manga film. While he starts to question the drug, it and it’s dealer disappear and another force makes itself known to him but is his a friend or a foe?
It’s beautifully shot, but does come across as a film preview more than an actual film and for a film this short it repeats a couple of scenes, I’m not sure if the director thought that we had forgotten or if he just wanted to showcase the most epic scene twice because it is so damned epic, either way it’s a just above average short, impressive on the graphics but not really a “short film” but just a stepping stone to a feature.
Rating 6/10
Singularity Director: Samuel Jorgensen Duration : 8:04 Starring : ?? Produced by Jeremy Pronk ????. 2015
A slightly longer and more epic film here, while it’s futuristic it’s also steeped in the look and feel of a modern warfare game (take your pic they all look the same to me). A special forces team have to rescue the president as there is a group of sentient androids out to destroy the president and it seems they aren’t all warm and mushy over any of the human race.
It takes a little while to warm up and doesn’t waste any time introducing any characters, mostly because the rest of the film is a blood bath! I was overly impressed with the effects and the acting, both are skillfully applied and neither one more overbearing than the other. And with a slightly predictable twist at the end there is a story that carries through to the end and isn’t forgotten among the robotics and bullets. It’s actually an okay movie, a lot better produced than some supposedly full length features.
Rating 6/10
Mis Drop Director : Ferand Peek Duration: 13:14 Starring : ????/2014
Possibly too long that it needed to be, this (not so) short film is presented as a found footage film, a forensic accountant is reviewing a video from a drop pod stream to understand why it was broken in the initial stages of a colonial invasion, upon opening this kinda black box recording of a young rookie Private Glenn’s first combat drop on an alien planet. First he’s strapped into his suit and given some advice by an old timer this scene is particularly wonderful just due to the presentation, the entire film is set up with a camera faced onto the lead like a gopro, all other characters are portrayed as voices or by their reflection.
The rookie is fished by the other “marines” and then things start to go awry. Taking a leaf out of the original Starship Troopers () this poor rookie has a rough introduction to life in a combat zone and even attempts to connect with his last one night stand, yep there’s even a hint of romance, this short is a mini epic.
It’s actually beautifully crafted, for the time and budget the resources, but it’s a bit too long for the short amount of story that it tells, and with an open ending I felt a little cheated by the end of the third watch, and it can’t be denied that it looks amazing, maybe if it is part of a series then it can redeem itself, but get in there now and check out this awesome first chapter.
CLASS OF 1999 (Science Fiction, Horror, Action 1990) D/W : Mark Lester W: C.Courtney Joyner 1h 39m.
TAGLINE: The ultimate teaching machine… out of control. Robot teachers have been secretly placed in the schools where the students have run riot.
With a stunning cast and believable story line it’s easy to see why this movie is a cult classic. How many people wanted to sneak back into school and blow their teachers away!? This film justifies that dream.
Q: Like I trust a vampire to give me a blow job. OST: NINE inch nails – Head like a hole. Midge Ireland – Come the day. 9/10
Then came…
GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS 2 (Sport, Crime, Drama 2010) D: Jesse V Johnson W: Jay Obrien – 1h 34m.
TAGLINE: Fight for Respect!
Following the deadly climax of Green Street Hooligans” several member of the West Ham firm and numerous members of Millwall end up in jail… So technically this a prison revenge movie fuelled by football hooligans, it should be gritty and violent, sadly it’s a slow paced movie but there is a lot of smacking about and blood. There is a good dose of dodgy prison guards because we all know they are all bent and a surprise cameo by Matthias Hues and Timothy Murphy. It’s a pale comparison to the first movie but it’s OK. I was gagging for it to end but did enjoy all the double dealing.
Admit One Film Addict 