EvilPhoEniX

This year's series ride continues, and Carnival Row is another new favourite. The series is set in Victorian times with a detective, fantasy and horror elements and is filmed entirely in Prague. It deals with the rather topical subject of immigration, where mythical creatures (fairies, fauns) are considered migrants and inferior society, and I have to say that this interestingly imagined world caught my eye immediately. Orlando Bloom as the detective is perfect and I enjoyed Cara Delevingne as a fairy, but Jared Harris (Chernobyl), as the Chancellor of Parliament, and David Gyasi, a Faun who comes to town as the only one with great wealth, are also impressive. Apart from the superb production design and the brilliantly imagined world, the horror elements impress, especially the central monster called the Night Butcher (a creature made up of dead body parts) is one of the best ever, and there are werewolves too! Of course there is also raw gore, perfect dialogues (a joy to listen to), beautiful costumes and in the last two episodes there is such a load of twists and turns that your brain will boil. Watched with bated breath and even though the series is not exactly action packed, it is attractive and smart enough to keep my attention. There are already 4 seasons announced, so big plans. Recommended. 90%

A solid farewell to Rambo, and even though the critics are grumbling I'm almost excited. Sylvester Stallone still has it, and he's as respected as an angry bull. Story-wise the film brings nothing new and follows the revenge template, but thankfully it takes place in the unpleasant setting of Mexico, which I simply enjoy, and the ubiquitous filth is portrayed quite solidly. The biggest asset though is of course the final half hour, which takes the best of Home Alone and Saw and is literally a parade of gore scenes that will have you drooling and sweating. In the finale, Rambo: Last Blood becomes an exploitation horror film, and there hasn't been a bigger carnage since Evil Dead. I felt physically uncomfortable as I haven't in a long time when he breaks that collarbone. Those who want to find faults will find them, and those who want a great 90 minutes will enjoy the film. 85%!

Yuri Bykov serves up a decent dramatic thriller and the Russians score plus points. The story is about factory workers who have not been paid for three months and decide to kidnap and rob their boss, but the boss of the factory is an influential man who has dangerous people working for him and this complicates the whole situation. The film more or less takes place in one factory with several characters whose relationships will constantly change, secrets will float to the surface and there will be one perfectly realistic shootout. Apart from the acting performances, I also praise the smart dialogue. 75%.

South Korea aspires for the film of the year with the most original idea of recent years. Bong Joon Ho, director of The Host, Okja and Snowpiercer, has another notch to his name that has rocked festivals and, in turn, the world. The story revolves around a poor but cunning family of four who will gradually infiltrate a rich family. The infiltration itself is very entertaining and intelligently presented and once the cards are dealt, the social drama crossed with comedy gives way to a thriller with a dense onslaught of unexpected twists and turns, a huge dose of suspense and a beautifully paced finale, where even the dead bodies are not in short supply. The director plays beautifully with genres so that they don't interfere with each other and add to that perfect acting performances, polished visuals and enough entertainment to keep the viewer's attention. Recommended. 90%

A passable French comedy about a reunion of elementary school friends, where the joke is that the biggest nerd will inadvertently impersonate the biggest bully in the class, whom no one has seen in 20 years. This makes for a number of comical situations and makes the film enjoyable to watch. Even the unexpected final twist is amusing. I was expecting more gags, but still I was satisfied. 65%.

A pretty decent new version of Chucky. Chucky was never one of my favourite horror properties, so I approached the film more coldly, but in the end a nice surprise. Chucky's Design didn't do much, but the main characters did a good job. I enjoyed the cop, there was some humour and surprisingl it's nicely brutal, at least the scene with the lawnmower and saw is worth it. It's a shame the finale didn't push things further, but still on the whole a satisfying flick. 65%.

A solid horror film for the first time in a while, unrivalled in the slasher genre this year, and the best horror film of the haunted house and theme park kind. This is what Hell House LLC should have been like. A group of friends find a haunted house on the side of the road on Halloween and decide to spend the night there, but they soon find out that the nightmare is real and is going for their necks. Nothing original, but a nice diversion within the genre. The cast of teenagers is unexpectedly decent and no one is downright annoying, the haunted house itself is huge and decently scary, but the biggest plus are the villains, who are terrifying once they take off their already rather unpleasant masks. Their appearance is very disturbing. Fortunately there is a large body-count, so there is some decent gore. I had a great time and I recommend it. 75%.

Argentina serves up a fairly tense thriller with an unconventional plot. The protagonist and his wife try to have a baby and when they finally get lucky, the wife changes her behaviour significantly and the beautiful marriage turns out to be a psychological terror where you won't know who is the bigger lunatic. The first half is slower, but after that there's certainly no shortage of tension. But Argentina is not Spain, so instead of a dose of twists they leave the twists to the viewer's imagination, which I personally don't like, but because of the premise and the actors I can definitely recommend it to fans of European thrillers. 60%

Tarantino's worst film and one of the most tiring cinema experiences ever. There are only two things to praise about this film, namely the decent retro styling and the perfect performances of Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, the rest is not even worth mentioning. Bruce Lee is in the film for two minutes and it's no wonder the daughter is upset for the travesty they put him on. Charles Manson is in the film for five seconds! (and it’s what the film was originally supposed to be about) And the alluring Margot Robbie is in the film for about eight minutes total. So more or less, it’s two and a half hours of bullshit about something that I don't give a shit about. But I don't care at all, and I could still get over the fact that Tarantino ditched the action, but to ditch the humour as well? Well, that deserves punishment. It's saved a little by the ending, which Pitt steals for himself, and at least in the last ten minutes Tarantino makes it clear that he's the director, but that’s not enough with a three-hour running time. My friends gave up on the film halfway through. This one passes me by. 40%

The anticipated It: Chapter Two didn't live up to the high expectations, according to the reviews, and didn't surpass the first part, but it is still an outstanding horror experience that comes out as a clear winner thanks to this year's weak competition. The film may be three hours long, but it passes by quite quickly, is entertaining enough, has drive and enough horror attractions to keep your attention, something that can't be said for the new Tarantino film, which has a similar running time, but only the last 10 minutes are interesting. Pennywise could have been in the scene more times, but I enjoyed other forms, and one there was one scare that gave me a heart attack. It's not that scary, but I felt uncomfortable with all the scenes. The best sequence is definitely when the group starts looking for their tokens. I had a great time with the film, it looks expensive, the humor works at times, the references are amusing and everyone involved plays it to the hilt. James McAvoy rules! 80%!