Tag Archives: Monster

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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Minions & Monsters – Movie Review

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TL;DR – Whether you like this film or not will depend on whether you think the Minions are charming or the death rattle of the end of Western Civilisation.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There are several mid-credit scenes.

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

Minions & Monsters Review Introduction

Over the years, I have been a strong proponent of how much I do enjoy the Despicable Me universe, even if Despicable Me 4 did start to show its age. Part of that is the chaotic energy that is infectious, the bright colours, and a heavy helping of quality slapstick comedy. It doesn’t hurt that I don’t have kids, so I only have to watch them once. But can a spin-off of a spin-off have the power to work? This is what we will look at today.

So, to set the scene, we open as a new museum is opening in Hollywood, looking back at some of the greats of cinema history, for example George Lucas (George Lucas). But the tour group was perplexed to see a statue of two Minions sitting in the exhibition. Well, the tour guide (Allison Janney) said, it is time to get an education about the history of Hollywood. The Minions have one goal: to find a big bad to work for, but one of the Minions, James (Pierre Coffin), had more of a creative side. When they end up in Hollywood, James finds his moment working with Max (Christoph Waltz), a noted film director. But to make James’ magnum opus, they needed a monster, and well, the Minions might have the evil spell book to pull that off.

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The Bride! – Movie Review

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TL;DR – I’d be honestly surprised if “what if Bonnie and Clyde were Frankenstein and his Bride” was not written somewhere prominently in the pitch deck for this film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

Warning – This film contains scenes which may cause distress.

Ida staring across a room, almost right in your soul.

The Bride! Review Introduction –

If you had told me a few years ago that Gothic Romance would come crashing back into the zeitgeist, I would have called you a fool. But indeed, it seems that I would have been the foolish one. Because we have had multiple big entries into this space, including other works adapting Frankenstein. Today, we are looking at a work that takes that classic tale and twists it on its head, and I am intrigued to see just how that works out. 

So, to set the scene, it is Chicago in the 1930s, the casinos are hot, the liquor is flowing, and the mob has their fingers in everything. Frank (Christian Bale) has been going through this world alone, but now he wants a partner in crime, and Dr. Euphronious (Annette Bening) might be just the person to do it. Thus, a local murdered and possibly possessed woman’s body becomes The Bride (Jessie Buckley). It was all very simple to pull off, but they may have got more than they bargained for.

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Anaconda (2025) – Movie Review

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TL;DR – This is a wildly silly and meta film that holds back when it should dive all the way in.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid to view this film.

A production slate for Anaconda.

Anaconda Review Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a film that sold itself to me by its bonkers premise alone: what if the sequel to 1997’s Anaconda was a meta reboot about a group of filmmakers trying to film a sequel to 1997’s Anaconda. It is a premise so profoundly silly that you must see just how they pull it off, and the answer is very meta indeed.

So, to set the scene, Ronald “Griff” Griffen Jr. (Paul Rudd) is a background actor in Hollywood whose only notable role was a four-episode stint on S.W.A.T. Well, after another failed audition, he sees a poster for the 1997 film Anaconda and gets an idea. He returns home to Buffalo, New York, to inform his friends that he has secured the rights to the Anaconda franchise so they can make one of the films they used to make when they were kids. It is a profoundly silly idea, but soon wedding videographer Doug McCallister (Jack Black), recently divorced lawyer Claire Simons (Thandiwe Newton), and now Buffalo sober Kenny Trent (Steve Zahn) find themselves in Manaus, Brazil, looking at snake handler Carlos Santiago Braga (Selton Mello) and his pet anaconda. They take a boat deep into the jungle to start filming, but little do they know that when filming Anaconda, there may be an anaconda hunting them.      

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Vampire Zombies…from Space! – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A delightful parody of 1950s pulp fiction that is unfortunately a bit too long in the tooth.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film.

Vampire Zombies…from Space!

Vampire Zombies From Space Review Introduction –

There are many ways a film can entice you to watch it. In the past, it was through who they cast as their leads, but that seems to be decreasingly crucial as the 21st century progresses. It could be the genre or the premise, or a multitude of things. Or maybe, the title of the film is so absolutely bonkers that you feel almost required to see just what they will do. Today, we are looking at Vampire Zombies From Space, and I think you know what category I would put that under.

So, to set the scene, one night a long time ago in the time of black and white, a dog ran into a tobacco field, and the family followed only to be confirmed by the impossible: a vampire and their flying saucer. While the mother was murdered in a wave of blood, a crucifix saved the rest of the family from certain doom. Ten years later, in a slightly more up-to-date-yet-still-black-and-white time, the family is a pariah in town. Little did they know that they would be the ground zero for something even more terrifying … zombies, sent by Dracula (Craig Gloster) to take over the world.

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The Gorge – Movie Review

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TL;DR – The oddest meet-cute I have ever watched, which could have been interesting if that narrative was there to support it.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I paid for the AppleTV+ service that viewed this film.

A helicopter over a gorge.

The Gorge Review –

When you have been poorly sick for a while, it is hard to get that motivating spark going again. The more you are away, the more content you miss and the deeper the backlog gets. But sometimes, it is best to just dive headfirst into something and see what happens, which is what we did with our film today.  

So, to set the scene, Levi (Miles Teller) is a very successful sniper who has been out of the Marines for several years, working for private military contractors until he was deemed unfit to serve. He didn’t have a reason or drive to contest the results, but maybe an old spook that could command the Army around might give him that drive. He is taken to an undisclosed location in the middle of a no-fly zone, so secretive that they have scanners to stop it from being seen by satellites. Western powers control one side, the Eastern powers control the other, and there is one person on each side. But they are not stopping people from getting into the gorge. Oh no, they have to make sure what is in the gorge never comes out.   

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Wolf Man – Movie Review

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TL;DR – It is a film that starts out like a sprint, but it may have forgotten it was not that kind of race towards the end.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

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

A truck hangs horizontally, held up by some trees.

Wolf Man Review –

Well, not that long ago, Universal attempted to re-create a shared universe for all those classical monster films that they still held the rights for, and well, the Dark Universe was so successful that you won’t find it on our Cinematic Universes page. However, in the wake of that, they still had all these monsters lying around, and someone might as well do something with them, which is how we got Leigh Whannell’s fantastic The Invisible Man, a film that lived rent-free in my brain for an age. Well, it is now time to see if lightning can strike twice.   

So, to set the scene, Blake (Zac Chandler) has had an estranged relationship with his father (Sam Jaeger) and the place he grew up in the deep rural forests of Oregon, and he got out as soon as he could. Now living with a Wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), and daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth), Blake (Christopher Abbott) has everything he wanted but is still struggling. Much of this comes from the legacy of his father, who went out into the woods one day and never returned. Well, the government has finally declared him dead, so Blake can take his family back to his family home to pack everything up and close that chapter of his life with maybe a quiet stay in the mountains to reconnect everyone. This is the plan right until something furry jumps out on the road in the dark, and the family find themselves perched sideways on some trees with a monster about.    

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Beneath Us All – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While there was a lot of promise with this scenario, you can tell that there were factors like the budget that held it back.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

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

Disclosure – I was sent a screener of this film

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

Left overs from a mauling.

Beneath Us All Review –

Today, we dive back into the world of Vampires, a world of shadows and screams. I have quite liked vampire films in the past because they are this blend of bloody action with profound lore. There are many versions of vampires, and I am interested to see where we will land in today’s film.

So, to set the scene, it is Scandinavia back in 912 AD when a child is ripped apart by a monster that appeared from the woods. The Monster (Yan Birch) was captured, but they could not kill him, so he was buried in a coffin, taken across the seas and then dumped in Vinland. In the modern day, Vinland is now North America and is full of rural Americans. Some of them are Todd (Sean Whalen) and Janelle Gibbs (Maria Olsen), who foster several kids and are not the nicest people in the world. But one day, their foster daughter Julie (Angelina Danielle Cama) is walking in the woods when a perceived noise impacts her head after she touches an amulet, which leads her to something buried in the ground.    

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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire – Movie Review

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TL;DR – While this is more of a Kong film, I love that they leaned into the camp, but some hollow aspects held it back.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

Kong finds a realm under Hollow Earth.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Review –

One of my joys in recent years has been the big Kaiju punch-em-up that has been the Monsterverse. There is just a lot of fun seeing two giant creatures rumble their way through a city. But now that we got the big team-up film last time, the question then becomes: where do they go from there? Well, that is the question we will look at today.

So to set the scene, at the end of Godzilla v Kong, Godzilla becomes the alpha of the surface world, and Kong becomes the alpha of Hollow Earth. A sort of detente that exists only if nether of the two strays into each other’s territory. But when Kong heads up to get some dental surgery, and Godzilla starts ripping out nuclear reactors in Europe, it feels like something is coming their way. This is then when we ask the question: Is Hollow Earth as far down as you could go?

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