EvilPhoEniX

A surprising romp from start to finish and a great performance by Nicolas Cage as Dracula. This year of vampires looks promising so far, and Renfield can definitely be counted among the best horror comedies, as a little sibling to the excellent Day Shift. The story may be simple, but it's entirely sufficient. We have Nicholas Hoult as Renfield, who looks for food for his master Dracula. In addition, the gangster Teddy Lobo (a brilliantly written and acted character) is on the rampage in the city and the policewoman Awkwafina is trying to destroy his criminal organization. The plot isn't the point, but it's enough that it's presented in an entertaining way and has a great pace. The action scenes are nice, and while they are frantically edited, they are the most important thing to see. The fights are dynamic, physically tough and most importantly very brutal. There is plenty of gore, it's almost comic book-like, nicely over-the-top, with blood flying by the gallon (there's perhaps even more gore here than in the new Evil Dead, so violence lovers will really enjoy a lot of fun and crazy fatalities). Tearing someone's arms off to then use as a murderous spear is simply awesome. In that respect, the film surprised and delighted me a lot, but it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Dracula's make-up is also good, and Cage overacts, stealing scenes for himself. For me, a very entertaining and brutal diversion that I would happily watch again with friends.

Tarek Boudali is for the first time without Lacheau's party and the quality went down drastically. While the premise itself is excellent, perfect for five star material, the idea doesn’t live up to the huge potential, as it lacked better directorial supervision and a better script, which Lacheau could have certainly done – this is what I kept telling myself throughout the film. A story about a guy who is constantly lying and making things up is just fine, and when all his lies come true, there was so much potential. It's just that, first of all, the viewer doesn't remember all the lies, so some of the hints are missed, and most of the characters that the lies are connected to are pretty underused. The best was the brother, who was supposed to be suffering a huge misfortune, so the scenes with him were some of the best and I wouldn’t have minded if it was just about him. With the rest, I was rather sad how they botched it. It's entertaining, it goes by quickly, and there are a few laughs, but for those who are used to the French and to Lacheau's bunch, it's weaker, but still watchable and entertaining. 55%

Weak. Marvel is really fading and it shows with every new movie. This just isn't even funny anymore. It's a world copied from Star Wars and since I don't like that either, nothing has changed. The action looks downright childish and uninteresting, the humor is absent, and Jonathan Majors as Kang didn't impress much either (he was much better in Creed III). I wasn't entertained at all and stopped caring after about an hour. Hopefully Guardians of the Galaxy will be a nice hit and I'm afraid the last one for a while.

The new Evil Dead is audiovisual porn and a brutal uncompromising ride. Lee Cronin has now risen decently into the big leagues and hopefully he'll stick to horror, he's certainly got something to offer. The change of setting in an apartment complex is welcome and refreshing. All the characters are likeable and surprisingly well acted (the little girl is amazing – a new child talent on the scene), the technical aspects with the cinematography are pushed to perfection – this is a TOP Tier 1 horror event – and the same can be said for the sound effects and make-up, there is simply no competition. The gore is well done, although I was honestly expecting more carnage, I wanted more neighbours on the meat grinder and the off screen kill was a surprise, but the only major complaint, and I'm not going to knock a star off because of that, as the final motorcycle-crusher gore combo ranks among the Top Gore scenes of any horror film ever. It's nice to see that not only the whole house is covered in blood from the roof to the basement, but also the parking lot along with the main character. There are some nice references (shotgun, chainsaw not to be missed), the reading of the pages of the Necronomicon is properly creepy, and the atmosphere, which is at times uncomfortable and properly creepy, is also done well. Alyssa Sutherland and her smile are definitely unsettling and a badass when all hell breaks loose. It's nice that even though there are kids featured, everyone gets their ass kicked. Some people complain about the lack of humour, but I honestly can't imagine any humour here, this is no light comedy splatter, but a dark, evil, atmospheric, brutal and uncompromising horror film where lightness would only take away from its power and intensity. We won't see anything more brutal in theaters this year. Watching it, I was reminded of all the hits from my childhood, from Inside to Martyrs, and the new Evil Dead is right in that variety. PS: Hopefully the film will make money, because 10 people at the premiere is sad. 9/10.

Patryk Vega's latest is another excellent gangster flick that demolished me. Awesome shit! Breath knocked out, hair ripped out, furniture destroyed! The story of the man who tore Poland apart! A madman and bomb maker who had 47 bombings, 110 kidnappings and is also an amphetamine maker. He took over his mother's brothel as a kid and became a young pimp. He single-handedly eliminated rival gangs and becames Poland's enemy number one. I have to say that the opening 40 minutes, where Vega, in an adrenaline-packed pace, presents the life of the “Son of the Devil” took my breath away like nothing I've seen in a long time. I had to take a break and go outside for some air, it was such a ride that I almost couldn't take it. The second half does stray away from the main character (which is a bit of a shame, as the film would have probably flown to the top by now), but interesting things do happen. A gang of young intelligent students-hackers arrive on the scene and start robbing rich people's houses. The only problem arises when they rob the house of the biggest scumbag in Poland, ha-ha!. One of the students is the son of the main detective who is looking for them as well as the Devil. A brilliantly engaging story that simply grabs you by the balls and reliably holds them for two hours. The detective is played by Andrzej Grabowski, a great actor, and there is an interesting use of the biblical story of the Exodus in the script. I also praise the visuals (the bomb blasts look very realistic). All the actors perform to the max, the music is intense, the pace doesn't slacken, the script surprises, and the action is decently uncompromising too, especially in the end. A proper gangster flick, during which I had royal fun and forgot to breathe. This one really suited me like nothing else. 9/10.

The best exorcism movie since The Exorcism of Emily Rose? Quite possibly. There have been a lot of exorcism movies over the years, and most of them are more miss than hit, there's just not much place for invention. The Pope’s Exorcist takes familiar horror clichés, but it has two big assets that make it stand out: the excellent Russell Crowe, who delivers a phenomenal performance (a horror film based on a well written and acted lead??), and the film as a whole looks perfect too. The A-list production is evident, and it's been a long time since a horror film has been this well made. In particular, it’s missing all the modern trends and elements, it's proper, dark and old-school like straight out of the 90s, but with great technical execution. Even the opening exorcism scene makes original use of a pig for possession and sets up the whole film nicely. I would have appreciated it more if Russell Crowe went from case to case (if he had exorcised maybe six people during the movie, I wouldn't hesitate with a full rating, that would have been a blast), but even the case of the little boy was interesting enough. The insults of the possessed boy definitely brings to mind the iconic The Exorcist. It's not very scary, there's no jump-scares and there aren't many scary scenes either, but the atmosphere works solidly most of the time and a couple of sequences have the right drive thanks to the great music. Russell Crowe even says some funny wisecracks at times and I wouldn't be mad if he returned as the exorcist again, the role really suited him. The underground finale is on an epic scale with one decent gore scene (thank God it's not PG-13, but I expected more gore from Julius Avery after Overlord), and I liked the incorporation of the Spanish Inquisition and the mythology surrounding the central Demon – King Asmodeus of Hell. Along with Scream VI, there hasn't been a better mainstream horror film, and anyone who had the misfortune of seeing Pray for the Devil in the cinema should fix their appetite with this. Horror week in the cinema has begun, followed by Renfield and Evil Dead Rise, now that's a dose of horror in the vein! 75%

Pretty. A girl thinks she has bedbugs in her apartment, so she calls an exterminator, only to find something else. It’s well made, the idea is interesting, but the WTF ending that veered into bizarre comedy just didn't sit right with me.

A two-hour history show and a chilling, gripping drama about the genocide in Sebrenica! There have been plenty of World War II movies, but a film about the greatest tragedy in modern history has only just arrived. I put the film off for a long time, not even its Oscar win could convince me, but it became a virtue out of necessity and I gave it a chance. Although I would have liked some war action, or more detailed executions – the only way the attempt to shock can work – it won me over in the end. Fortunately it has a great pace, the main character Aida is always running around somewhere, solving things and trying to save her family from execution. The emotions work quite well, the atmosphere is chilling, and it's definitely a situation none of us would want to find ourselves in. The acting is also top notch and the UN is shown in a not nice light. 75%

From the first trailer, I was looking forward to a grittier dinosaur affair, but unfortunately the film disappoints on multiple levels. It's a huge mistake that only Adam Driver is stuck on the planet, if there was at least a 15 man crew stuck there we could have got a proper R-rated dinosaur survival, where they wouldn't have skimped on the gore or darker atmosphere, and I would currently be drooling with bliss and screaming with excitement to the heavens, and wouldn't mind at all that it's silly and story-wise flat, but too bad. The dinosaurs looked cool though, and when they are on set they are something to watch. I liked the high tech weapons and the pretty decent scares. But everything in between was pretty mind-numbing and uninteresting, with no pace, no tension and no atmosphere, which is a mystery they couldn't use. 5/10.

A decent ghost story from Indonesia from a director who has potential. Kimo Stamboel has been sucking lately, but William Chandra's (MatiAnak, Cult) latest release made a decent impression on me. The story unfolds from a birthday party where a girl mysteriously disappears and returns after some time as a revenge spirit. We don't find out what happened to her until the end, which I liked. Nothing original, but I have no problem with it, it managed to keep my attention and I appreciate that more. I do appreciate that the ghost goes on a rampage somewhere around the 25 minute mark and sets off a decent series of brutal murders, with sets this film apart a lot. There are no stupid teasers and jump-scares, just a ghost out for revenge and giving its victims with unpleasant deaths (the murders are surprisingly numerous and are both inventive and decently brutal), and there’s also the delightfully creepy ghost mask (thankfully they avoided CGI, if there's one thing I hate it's the black smoke that ghosts usually have around them). The technical side is also top notch and the scene with the grandmother is a decent atmospheric blast. There was even a twist in the finale, so definitely eager and functional for me. I'll enjoy enjoy a slasher and ghost story crossover. 7/10.