POMO

Powerful! A psychological punch to the gut in a dark futuristic vision that does not pander to average viewers, but conversely defines the circle of potential satisfaction from their ranks with each passing minute. The subject matter itself is disturbing – we don’t want such a future! And the ultra-bloody, cold-bloodedly drastic execution only boosts the extreme viewing experience. Possessor is heavy and emotionally inaccessible, but also fascinating and intense.

Don’t let yourself be repelled by the first, ridiculously theatrical murder on the beach. There is three times more nudity than killing in this cute giallo. And that’s just as well, because all of the ladies and their faces, hairstyles and breasts are beautiful. The icing on the cake is the film’s messaging, which is enchantingly incorrect by today’s standards. Of course, don’t expect suspense and seriousness like from Argento.

Robowar is an Italian C-movie knock-off of Predator by the same bunch of meritorious artists who begat the masterpiece Terminator II (which itself was a rip-off of Aliens). Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as funny. Robowar copies the specific scenes, shots, actors’ gestures and dialogue from the original. And it ties them together with filler shots of soldiers walking through the jungle to the sounds of a cheap electronic soundtrack with rock guitars. But watch out! The film has a shockingly different point – the space hunter isn’t just any alien! P.S. Equip yourself for this with a significant amount of patience and self-control.

The second Venom is more about digital monsters than about Hardy. Furthermore, they are two digimonsters that would look the same in a black-and-white movie. On the other hand, Venom “on his own two feet” is fun and his attendance of a party is one of the film’s best moments. The bad guys don’t arouse much fear, as their motivation is shoddy and their interactions with those around them come off as frivolous, like other things in the movie. In the final dark, overwrought digifest, I really didn’t give a damn who was throwing whom where or who was falling where or what was falling on them. Otherwise, Hardy on a motorcycle is great, and Michelle Williams... Michelle Williams! She gives the movie a much needed aesthetic element. If it wasn’t for her, I'd give Let There Be Carnage two stars.

The Ward is the weakest possible variation on the theme of Shutter Island that could be filmed in the realm of top-tier productions (decent actors, cinematography, sound). It is a horror movie in which the scares don’t work, and it’s not until the end that we comprehend the reason for its insanely shaky logic, which ruins the viewing experience. And which actually isn’t surprising even in its would-be shocking conclusion, because we have seen something similar many times before, and not just in Shutter Island.

This year the low-key Bruckner has confidently overshadowed even the hitmaker James Wan. And he is shaping up to be the new master of psychological horror, as he is able to guide even the most experienced genre viewer through new catacombs of mystery and fear by uncovering mysteries through blind alleys in which we, as viewers connected to the main character, have never found ourselves before, supported by intense goosebumps and scares that come when we don’t expect them and that, for our peace of mind, we perhaps don’t even want. Brilliant. And with a metaphysical aspect that doesn’t seem out of place, but is grounded in the trauma of human tragedy with unanswered questions.

Cronenberg giallo through Wan’s lens? A lot of bombast that mainstream viewers won’t care about. I enjoyed the visuals, Annabelle Wallis and courage but instead of being pleased by the point and the climax resulting from it, I found myself shaking my head.

This time the Broccoli party played nicely on emotions. And in the role of Bond, Craig tried out the broadest range of inner developments and facial expressions not only of his five appearances in the franchise, but all of the Bond films. As an emotional viewer, I was thoroughly moved. The relationship with Léa Seydoux was nicely deepened. But what about the faulty logic in the main villain’s (Malek) motivation and behavior and the other ill-conceived things? Is it so difficult to polish the screenplay of a much-anticipated, worldwide mega-film also in this respect? A repeat viewing of Spectre the day before was helpful, and No Time to Die follows directly from it. Zimmer is excellent in the suspenseful scenes, particularly in the encounter with Blofeld (Waltz).

Chained presents the very stark, difficult-to-digest psychology of a serial killer and the causes of his sociopathy. And its long-term effect on the “scholar” – a captive young man who has to live with it. With their “depraved mentor/suffering student” relationship, the director takes an audience-pleasing portrait of a murderer to the higher level of a study of perception and behavior with two diametrically different characters in extreme situations that they experience together, but each of them in a different way. And she is also able to surprise us with her screenwriting skills. Chained is unpleasant and paralyzing. And it's brilliant.

With its effective subject matter, The Devil Made Me Do It freshens up the franchise, taking it in the right direction. It starts out as an ambitious “whodunit” with mysterious question marks and a search for connections between two events, with a third event gradually coming into play. However, in the final build-up of the story, Chaves doesn’t quite have the directorial skill to handle the interconnection of the settings and their characters, and the ideas slide into genre mediocrity. Scenes that could have been powerful moments for the whole franchise (Ed’s first attack on Lorraine) are told in passing at the expense of focusing on the details in the “secondary storyline" with the young convict. And the epilogue is outright kitsch.