EvilPhoEniX

An enjoyable and intimate atmospheric little horror film, where Benjamin Barfoot shows that he is not a loser and that he can definitely still surprise. It's nothing original, it's a bit of a mash-up of Come Play and The Babadook, but I can't remember the last time when an atmospheric and chilling affair like this worked. The film makes do with few characters and minimal space, more or less just a mansion and a forest in the middle of nowhere, home to some shapeshifter creature that can take on the form of a dog or a recently deceased father, and I'll admit that when it's on set it's decently creepy and I wasn't comfortable. I also liked the decent performances, especially Julia Brown, who in one scene becomes so over-the-top that I immediately thought of Toni Collette in Hereditary. Surprisingly good, it held my attention, so I'll gladly round up. 7/10.

A decent Indian thriller on a serious note without the dancing and humour, which would not have been appropriate given the subject matter. Too bad there are no explicit scenes, but it's about children, so I can't blame them. That said, I was expecting the atmosphere to be darker and the pace a bit more exciting so I could be happy, but it didn't offend. Fans of crime dramas can add a star. 6/10.

It's a decent job for a debutant. Fine A-list actors, top craftsmanship and surprisingly enough action, that is also unexpectedly brutal with no shortage of severed limbs. For someone who was expecting PG-13, I'm definitely surprised. Of course, the plot didn't draw me in much, and aside from the action, it's a bit boring, but when they start cutting, it's something to watch. The finale, filmed in fog, is intriguing. Not much missing for a fourth star, but I'm not quite feeling it this time, it lacks a bit more drive and more interesting characters, but otherwise fine. 65%.

Alexandre Aja’s weakest film so far. The trailers made it look like this year’s dark horse, but I was bored as hell. I didn't like the concept of the story and the rules of the game at all, the horror attractions are very few and lack both gore and atmosphere or jump-scares, in fact it's very bland and, apart from nice visuals and decent acting performances, there's nothing worth mentioning. It couldn't keep my attention unfortunately. Aja this is not the work of someone with several years of experience. 4/10.

The popular French duo Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury are back and not in the best form. This time they focused more on the crime component, but I am satisfied. For me, together with Longlegs, this is the best dark crime drama this year. We have two detectives, each from a different department, who arrive in a small mountain town where they are not very welcome and go on to solve an interesting and brutal murder case that looks like a suicide but is it really? The film has a slower pace, but held my attention, there are some pretty brutal murder scenes that I liked, plus it may lean on the supernatural, a sort of folk mystery about the so called Soul Eater. The horror component is pretty stripped down, it's really more of a dark, raw crime drama, but it has some intense scenes, a darker atmosphere, and there's a twist towards the end, so even though I wasn't expecting much, I'm satisfied. 7/10.

Absolutely Insane!! A compelling horror satire, a successor to David Cronenberg, a future cult classic and Coralie Fargeat's entry into the modern horror league alongside Jordan Peele, Ari Aster and Robert Eggers. You are not ready for this shit!! Two and a half hours of sheer entertainment, in the first half Coralie attacks male thrills in supreme style and many will have passionate and sexy fantasies with goddess Margaret Qualley – that girl has a future! (When was the last time we saw an actress full frontal naked?). But Demi Moore is not far behind, even at 60 she still looks great and gives an impressive acting performance. And speaking of acting, I have to mention Dennis Quaid, who absolutely relishes the role. What impressed me was the soundtrack like something out of a dense rave, it adds an incredible edge to the whole madness, the impressive cinematography with a nod to art (those close-ups are a treat), the frilly visuals, the cool idea and then of course we have the popular body horror elements, where the make-up artists did a masterful job. The final transformation evokes anything from The Fly to The Thing, and it was something we haven’t seen in a long time – there was also my unpopular tooth and nail pulling. The Troma-like finale was a bit over the top and I believe it may annoy some viewers, but I couldn’t stop staring at the geyser of blood that painted the whole room (I thought no could paint the house from roof to basement with blood like Timo Tjahjanto in Macabre, but this one broke those boundaries). The women, however, will spend most of the time feeling inferior, imperfect, and having major complexes, the hatred from them for this film is more than obvious, but, as I like to say, the Chosen Ones will undoubtedly enjoy the film. A hypnotic, transcedent experience as well. 10/10.

I didn’t like the first film, I found it cringe-worthy and embarrassing, so I avoided the second one, but eventually gave it a chance out of boredom and surprisingly it was okay in the end. It's also thanks to fan favourite Jenna Ortega and the much better effects. There's the occasional joke, some pretty creative ideas and the scenes in the afterlife are decent, it's a fun romp for the little ones that while it doesn't wow, it didn't offend me this time. That said, Tim Burton will probably never be one of my favourite directors. 6/10.

Matthias Schweighöfer is a great guy and I enjoy his comedies. Rhe comedy genre is dying in America, but at least it's not stagnating in Europe (France/Germany). The first half is very funny and offers some very funny scenes (the scene with the ferret is great, and also the scenes with the brother). The second half is more of a romantic drama, but I liked both. Nothing new, but enjoyable and entertaining. 7/10.

Slowly a new modern subgenre is starting to emerge: game night that goes wrong. After Talk to Me we have another similar film, only it's more of a mystery thriller, but it's pretty cool. It has received a lot of praise abroad, the original idea and the execution are interesting (the game with the body swapping is great and I would definitely play it too), I didn't mind the characters, but I had a problem orienting myself, 8 characters are not easy to remember, it's a pity they didn't cut them down, I would have rated the film higher. The final twist was a surprise. A decent one-off. 6/10.

An enjoyable bloody forest survival action flick with our Scream Queen Samara Weaving. The film leaves story and dialogue aside, it's a mute spectacle (which is a bit of a shame, because the lore of that world could have been quite interesting). I was worried it would tread water, but fortunately it has a good pace, Samara spends the whole film running away from both the occultists and the nicely handled mutants (who were creepy and there could have easily been more of them). As far as gore goes, there's not that much, I found The Platform 2 to be more daring in terms of violence, and there was the occasional deaf spot, so more of a nice genre average than a big hit, but these genre films should be appreciated, not many are made and Samara is a sweetheart. 7/10.