EvilPhoEniX

I stupidly gave it a chance again and it didn't work out, for the third time. Hercule Poirot for me is probably the most boring and least interesting detective of them all (for example comparing him to Sherlock it's 100 and 1). Again it is filmed and presented in a way that could have entertained my grandmother and grandfather, but for me, and I believe the younger generation. the film is hard to digest. This time the cast wasn't worth much either, which reflects the actors lack of interest in acting in this one. The whole film is very slow with no hint of suspense or atmosphere (no, I didn't see any horror elements here), the fact that it lacks momentum and drive is one thing, but the fact that I didn't enjoy the dialogues, story and characters is another. I didn’t guess the killer, but the final denouement did nothing for me, the final explanation is supposed to deliver a proper build-up (like in Saw), but it never happens. I really don't enjoy this style of detective stories without murders, where the whole movie is spent listening to people bored by Branagh. Delete, forget, honor. 4/10.

Though a big success in cinemas, for me this is quite possibly the most useless mainstream horror film of the year. It is based on a famous game I've never played, but given the premise, I can't really imagine what it's about (I wonder if the game is as uninteresting as the film). Anyway, horror-wise, the film offers nothing appealing and I couldn't find anything to sympathize with. It's PG-13, so the gore, the only thing that could have livened it up a bit, is missing. Ironically, the jump-scares are also missing and there's no dark atmosphere either. The animatronics simply don't look scary or creepy, they look awkward, and this combination just can't work for me. Add to that uninteresting characters, a weak story and an unengaging pace, where I was really bored out of my mind. Really bad, (Cage's Wonderland at least had a great Cage and didn't lack gore). This is a horror movie for the kids (like budding future horror fans, OK), for horror veterans who have seen a thing or two it’s an ordeal 3/10.

Joe Lynch with an adaptation of a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. It's a bit of a made-for-TV horror thriller that seems to have fallen out of the 90s and will be off-putting for some, but I have no problem with it. There's sex, there's blood and there's dark humor and that's plenty enough for 3 stars for me. It's proper B-grade retro trash, but anyone who doesn't have a problem with that can enjoy it. A psychiatrist becomes obsessed with one of her patients, who seems to have multiple personalities, but the whole thing goes a bit awry. I enjoyed Heather Graham a lot, especially in the final act, which has great lines and is kind of racy and creepy, quite fitting. Whether the film can be recommended I don't know, it obviously didn't sit well with many people, but if you likes offbeat oddities, you might give it a try. 5.5/10.

I like these films, but it lacked more drive, a fiercer pace and better situational humour. Wall Street and Dumb Money are maybe a level or two up, but Pain Hustlers still has its bright moments. It terms of plot it follows a familiar template and goes sadly without surprises. Emily Blunt gets lucky with an interesting job and starts making some decent money, but a person can only on top for a while and classically things start to fall apart again and you kind of wait for it to end. There are a few deaf spots, unfortunately, but the insight into the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry was good. The trial turned out interesting and surprising to me and Emily Blunt stole it nicely for herself. 65%.

I went for a full meal and got a full meal. INSANE!! Demian Rugna has already managed to shine once with the awesome creepy Terrified, and this film clearly makes him a strong player in the horror field with unprecedented talent (Flanagan could learn). This is some really thick horror fodder, properly off the rails that was right down my alley. But it's a very evil film, unpleasant, dark, it crosses genre boundaries, the director knows how to shock and there's some very nasty things happening to everyone, including children and animals, so weaker characters watch out! This is rural demonic horror from Argentina set in a village where two brothers find an infected man (possessed by a demon). The demon possession spreads like a plague and the man rots alive! I have to say that the premise is not only original but also quite realistic, if there ever was a demonic possession I believe it could have manifested itself in these symptoms. I really liked that the movie gives seven rules to avoid the evil. From the very beginning, the director throws an uncompromising atmosphere, from which you can feel the hopelessness, despair, helplessness against an unknown evil. It has a very fierce pace, which I appreciate, excellent music that perfectly complements the tension and the atmosphere. The characters are well acted, the direction is of course top notch, and now we come to the most important thing: the horror scenes themselves. They are so good that every single one would be a highlight in another film. On the one hand there are scenes that I have never seen in my life, but then they shock in such a way that they are hard to breathe (the dog scene is really something crazy!). The obese Uriel, rotten to the bone will probably haunt my dreams, and eating the brains out of his child like popcorn is also a pretty good freakout and it definitely doesn't stop there. For me, an absolute horror beauty that scores on all fronts. It has an original theme, great gore, great make-up effects, good pacing, great visuals, it’s shocking, it's uncomfortable, it has a sultry atmosphere, it breaks down cinematic boundaries. I don't know what more to ask for, this is what a Horror movie with a all the trimmings should look like. In short, the demons have taken over the horror fair this year. Oh and by he way, complaining about characters behaving illogically when the town is being eaten by plague, rot and demons is really logical. It's like some introvert accidentally strayed from drama to horror. My only regret is that the film wasn’t half an hour longer. 9/10.

A great Korean debut! The protagonist turns into a villain! An unknown director has taken the popular Korean theme of serial killers and cleverly devised an original story, exactly with what the viewer expects from a similarly themed film. It's been a while since a grittier crime thriller came out of Korea, but this one is definitely worth your attention. The story follows a determined detective who has lost his brother and is on the hunt for a ring of serial killers who are cutting people to pieces. When he finally comes face to face with one of them, it ends in an accident and upon waking up in the hospital he discovers that their bodies have been switched! An awesome spin to the Serial Killer theme (we've had it in comedy and horror, but not in gritty thriller) and it works great. The film makes the most of the plot and I was a bit worried how they would explain this at all (without being Sci-Fi), so hats off to the Koreans for once again going at it very intelligently and the twist is definitely a blast. The traditionally good visuals are a given, both leads give great performances (one is from the recent Project Wolf Hunting and the other from Deliver us from Devil), the is appropriate (I could have definitely gone a little harder, but it didn't bother me that much), the film moves along quickly, and the shocking finale is also interesting and definitely unexpected. The Koreans are good in this kind of films and I enjoyed it. 8/10

An enjoyable little drama/thriller with Australian rednecks. Two girlfriends take a job offer far from their home, somewhere in Australia, to go and help out in a pub to earn some extra cash, only to be confronted by rude locals, and the whole situation soon spirals out of control. Jessica Henwick and Julia Garner both play very well and Hugo Weaving as the pub landlord is also a delight, he is not a good example of a boss. Much of the film takes place in one pub where we watch the two protagonists' demanding shift and some sexual innuendo from the locals (Dolly was probably the best, he appeared the most psychopathic), but for my taste the film is kept too much in check, it is too light, it could have gone to much greater extremes. It doesn't really start to feel like a thriller until the final 15 minutes, where the atmosphere thickens slightly (but again the film could have easily gone into hixploitation with the rednecks). I have worked in a pub so I didn't find it that out of the ordinary, but the film passes quickly, not significantly boring. As a one off it's ok but with a better director wilder things could have happened. 6/10

God, I am so pissed!! The worst cinema experience of this year. I accidentally stepped in shit when I preferred this to DiCaprio, as I love courtroom movies (what could possibly go wrong?), but to get my Anatomy and Dissection without anesthetics! I really didn't expect it. Anatomy of a Fall is one of those movies that when it ends, half the theater screams with joy FINALLY!!! and goes to buy champagne and get really drunk that this shit is finally over, because I couldn’t believe it anymore! (I thought it was funny to look around the hall half way through the film and realise that half the people were actually asleep). It terms of craftsmanship, it's a cheap film that looks like it was made by a law student (terrible cinematography, ugly visuals, no film look), it has a crazy 150 miinute running time with a painfully slow pace (I've really never seen a worse courtroom film in my life). Moreover, the whole film evoked for me the Michael Peterson case (The Staircase), but that was a level above in every way. The execution for me is almost repulsive and the trial is absolutely bland (the best performance here is by a dog!), and the biggest kick in the balls comes at the very end where you get no explanation. A murder mystery without revelation, that's what I call a bold move, which makes me wonder for what purpose such a film was made in the first place? I want to turn back time, I want to turn back money, I want to turn back the mood. I'm going to go and watch the French film Guilty immediately to fix my mood (which coincidentally has an identical 85%, but the qualities are completely different). This really sounds like a bad April Fool's joke. I was going crazy with boredom in the cinema like I haven't in a long time. For my part, this is the prototypical boring arthouse drama that I heartily hate. Had I played the movie at home, I would have thrown the TV out the window in a huff! Terrible. 2/10.

Oh yeah!! Saw X is a pleasant surprise for me and the franchise is back in full force. I personally like this franchise a lot, it's a nice showcase of gore and torture with a high level of craftsmanship and we rarely see it in such quality, but here I have to appreciate that the film can once again work as a dense revenge psycho-thriller and the return of the iconic serial killer Jigsaw is the best thing that could have happened to the franchise. This is actually a very personal revenge and John Kramer is actually portrayed as a good guy who even the viewer is tempted to root for (because his victims are also pretty big bastards that you wish dead) and I loved that nice contrast. I enjoyed Jigsaw's background, even though the introduction is a bit slower, but, what the hell, Jigsaw is such a cool character that he is entertaining even if he doesn't set traps and torture. From the second half onwards it's the same old Saw we love with all that goes with it. The traps are once again well thought out and inventive (it's really crazy what they’ve been able to come up with in these 10 episodes), the gore is beautiful and very intense (I have to say that even I as a blood lover was a bit uncomfortable this time, and I've seen a lot), all that leg cutting and brain scratching will stick in my head for a long time. The return of Amanda was also a delight, adding a nice nostalgic spice to the film, and the closer the film got to the end (the iconic soundtrack started playing and the cool twists started rolling again), I couldn't be dissatisfied. I do have a minor complaint about the finale (the sneaky bitch definitely deserved something utterly morbid, but on the other hand there is room for another installment where they can once again go all out). I have to say that I had great fun for the first time in a while, I devoured every second of it and I'd happily watch it again in a heartbeat. Together with Evil Dead Rise the clear winners of this year's Gore section. 8.5/10.

An all too ordinary thriller from the French by the once talented Franck Khalfoun. In the past he has given us the fine thriller P2 and an excellent remake of Maniac, so he has quite an eye for the madman, but his new thriller is a weak concoction that brings nothing new to the genre, is minimalist, quite boring, and pretty pointless, at least for me. A woman and her colleague stop at a gas station at night and a psychopathic sniper appears out of nowhere and starts shooting at them. But nothing is a coincidence and the main character soon learns why she is the target. The entire film takes place in a gas station and consists of dialogue over walkie-talkies between the main character and the attacker, so it's more of a lightly suspenseful conversation where the occasional random person wanders in to say nothing. Visually it's fine, the acting is fine too, the attacker motif makes sense and the finale is even slightly more brutal, but it's not really enough. This is the kind of film I enjoyed maybe 10 years ago, but today it has nothing to impress or surprise me. For some it may be an OK one-off, I was quite bored. 4/10.