Tag Archives: Horror

Resident Evil (2026) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Blood, Gore, Screams, Gunshots, and that is just the first ten minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Warning – Contains scenes with flashing lights.

Hands and feet spall out from a door.

Resident Evil Review Introduction

Today we are looking at a very interesting film, a grounded take on a surreal world. Growing up, even though we were not a PlayStation family, you knew of Resident Evil from sheer reputation alone. One of the pillars of horror gaming. I even liked the Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse films back in the day, though by the time of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter it was clearly shambling along to the finish line. That is a lot of baggage for a film, but add Zach Cregger fresh off Weapons into the mix, and suddenly you have the potential for something truly fascinating. 

So, to set the scene, it has been a very long day for Bryan (Austin Abrams), who is trying to make money as a medical courier. He thought he was done for the day, but then a last-minute package for Raccoon City General Hospital arrived, and that was a job he could not turn down. It is a hard drive as a blizzard rolls in; he was distracted so much so that he didn’t even see the figure on the road until his car hit it at speed. This would have been disastrous, but then why won’t the police pick up? Why does this house look like a fight has just happened? And why is that very dead lady now running at full speed towards me?  

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Hope (Hopeu/호프) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is honestly one of the most bonkers films I have ever watched, both good [the action] and bad [the animation], and everything in between [the tonal whiplash].

Rating: 4 out of 5.

And/Or

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Two men stand on either side of a creature sized hole that has been made in the wall of a building.

Hope Review Introduction

Today we are looking at a profoundly odd film, a film that bamboozles and weirds you out in equal measures. I will be honest: I spent the entire time I was watching this film on the edge of my seat, not knowing what would come next, good or bad. It constantly keeps you off balance, not knowing what will happen next.  

So, to set the scene, Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) is the police chief of Hope Harbour, a town in South Korea near the border with the North. Early one morning, he is called out of town by his cousin Ko Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), where they find a large bull that has been eviscerated by something larger than a bear. Concerned that a wild animal is this close to the town, Ko Bum-seok makes his way back into town to try and organise patrols to keep people safe, which is when explosions and screams cry out into the early morning.

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Big Baby – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Unfortunately, this film fails at almost every level.

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Big Baby stands illuminated in green light.

Big Baby Review Introduction

Today, I am reviewing a very odd film, one that seems openly hostile toward film critics, whether their criticism is made in good faith or not. Thus, do I critique a film about film criticism or not? All of this is made harder by the fact that Big Baby was a real slog to get through.  
 
So, to set the scene, we open as Adam Lewis (Brandon Scott) is ripped to shreds by dudes on the internet, rocked by the thoughts that even though he is successful enough to be earning a comfortable living for his work, he may never win an Oscar. Adam stays up late, drunk, trying to write a new film. He dreams of a Big Baby (Adam Marcinowski) slashing his way through his house. This might be his new muse, or it could be a monster waiting to strike?

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Ready or Not 2: Here I Come – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While it does not nail its universe-upscaling, it is still an entertaining, bloody action comedy.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ subscription used to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

All the representatives of the families.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Review Introduction

Ready or Not was one of those films I entirely slept on, which was a mistake. It was one of those few films that completely understood the power and limits of dark comedy. It was a riot of gory fun, but one of those films that I was surprised it got a sequel, but it did, and this time I am not sleeping on it.  

So, to set the scene, we start right after the end of Ready or Not as Grace (Samara Weaving) is rushed to hospital suffering from shock and blood loss. What she doesn’t know is that by winning the game of Hide and Seek, she has triggered a rare clause in the agreement that binds all the powerful families together. Now, ultimate power is up for grabs, and every family wants a bite of the apple. Grace was hoping to go home, but when her estranged sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) arrives at the hospital, none of them was ready to be kidnapped, dragged to the hotel of Chester Danforth (David Cronenberg), and forced to hide again, handcuffed together.

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We Bury the Dead – Movie Review

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription used to watch this film.

A zombie opens its eye.

We Bury the Dead Review Introduction

Today’s offering has been bubbling around in the Australian cinematic landscape for quite a bit before it got its theatrical release earlier this year. Unfortunately, while there were no well-timed screenings near me at the time, it has now made its way onto streaming, and this is the perfect time for me to give it a watch.  

So, to set the scene, one day an accidental detonation of an experimental weapon off the coast of Tasmania destroyed the capital city of Hobart. However, an EMP wave stretched further, destroying the brains of all living creatures on the island. It is a catastrophe of epic proportions, and a whole mobilisation effort has been activated to help identify and recover the bodies of the 500,000-odd dead. However, now and again, some of the dead wake up, and they are no longer themselves. Ava Newman (Daisy Ridley) is one of the volunteers, hoping to find out what happened to her husband, who was at a conference on the south of the island. Those who do reanimate are completely docile and not a problem, or so the Army says.

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The End of Oak Street – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This 80s homage film triumphs on one important facet: Anne Hathaway fighting dinosaurs.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

A dog looks up to see a weird light.

The End of Oak Street Review Introduction

Now, if you know me, I make absolutely no apologies that I am a dinosaur fiend when it comes to media. Give me your Jurassic Parks, your Dinotopias, heck, you want to add dinosaurs to Star Trek, I am here for it. But if you are going to add dinosaurs to a film, they can’t just be a token addition; they need to mean something, and thankfully that is not an issue today.

So, to set the scene, in 1982 there is a quintessential suburb in America called Flowervale that does all the stereotypical things. They have block parties, the kids ride around on their bikes, and neighbours get upset with dogs pooping in their yards. On Oak Street in this suburb lives the Platt family: wife Denise (Anne Hathaway), husband Greg (Ewan McGregor), daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella), and son Brian (Christian Convery). They are the perfect nuclear family on the surface, but in private the cracks in Denise and Greg’s relationship are threatening to become a gorge. But all of that changes one night when the lights start to flicker, everyone’s ears pop, and odd noises start coming from the forest. That’s when the screams start.

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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – Movie Review

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TL;DR – An incredibly confronting film that made me regret eating dinner but reveals a wealth of thematic depth beneath the gore.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

The Bone Temple at dusk.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple Review Introduction

Today we’re looking at an unusual sequel. After decades of waiting for 28 Years Later, The Bone Temple arrived so quickly afterwards that some audiences may have assumed it was the same film. I tried to watch it in cinemas, but the scheduling never worked out. But now it’s out on streaming, it’s time to give it a watch.

So, to set the scene, we open in the moments after the end of 28 Years Later with Spike (Alfie Williams) having to fight for his life in front of Jimmy (Jack O’Connell) and his cult of Jimmies. Meanwhile, around the Bone Temple, Dr Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) has made some odd discoveries about Sampson (Chi Lewis-Parry) that the alpha might indeed be his friend, or more importantly, the real person might still be in there. There is a bit of assumed knowledge going into this film, as it does expect that you have watched the previous film.

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The Last House – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a film that is trying something, but it is working in a space where other contemporaries have excelled.  

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription used to watch this film.

Water filling in the cracks of shattered glass.

The Last House Review Introduction

Today we are looking at something that is becoming increasingly rare in modern cinema: a genuinely original film. Not adapted, not spun off, and not based on a toy from 50 years ago. Given how uncommon these projects have become, I knew I had to give The Last House a watch.

So, to set the scene, one Sunday morning a surprise rainstorm appeared on the horizon. It felt like a normal day, but then the internet failed. But even stranger was the fact that none of the doors or windows would open. That’s okay, because you can break windows, right? No, the glass cracks but doesn’t break. Now, you and everyone you know are stuck in their houses, with only the food you happened to have inside.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Griffin Incident [S4E2] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is an episode that leans hard into horror.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service used to view this series.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The USS Griffin hanging quiet in space.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review Introduction

Throughout the history of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, it has had the habit of dipping into different genres for a surprise episode. See, for example, the musical episode Subspace Rhapsody. But there is one genre that they have danced around but never dived into: supernatural horror. Well, today is the day it commits.  

So, to set the scene, Spock (Ethan Peck), La’An (Christina Chong), and Kirk (Paul Wesley) are all hitching a lift home with each other from the Future Federation Leader’s conference. When they pick up an odd distress call coming from an asteroid field. Of the many things they were expecting, nothing prepared them for the USS Griffin, a ship lost for nine years, light-years away from its current location. They beam aboard, and for some reason the ship has power when it should have lost it years ago, but things take a turn when they have only one hour to find out what happened to the ship before it all shuts down. Even more so when someone lurks in the hallways with them. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Obsession – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Ew, ew, ew, ew, my dude, what the actual #$%@

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

One Wish Willows.

Obsession Review Introduction

It has been a gangbuster year for the YouTube creative to big screen director, starting with Markiplier in Iron Lung, then Kane Parsons in Backrooms, and now we get to finish off the trifecta with Curry Barker’s Obsession. However, now that I’ve seen it, I’m not sure I would have chosen to, knowing what I know now.

So, to set the scene, Bear (Michael Johnston) is a bit of a nervous person who has worked with Nikki (Inde Navarrette) and has a major crush on her. He has been coached by his friends Ian (Cooper Tomlinson) and Sarah (Megan Lawless), but he can’t bring himself to take the next step. When walking through a crystal store one day, he comes across a One Wish Willows that gives you one wish, and one wish only. After a truly embarrassing exchange, Bear decides to give the stupid wish a chance, because it is not like it really works …….  

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