EvilPhoEniX

Taylor Sheridan and his macho serial romp continues. He is in top form, every one of his TV series is breaking records and Tulsa King is no exception, with Sylvester Stallone giving his best performance since Rocky. It's an old-school gangster drama where Stallone is released from prison after 25 years and his boss sends him to the backwoods of Tulsa where he'll be able to build his own criminal underworld and have a very unexpected crew at his disposal. The series takes a quieter tone, but definitely entertains. Stallone has charisma to spare, and I enjoyed seeing him slowly and surely grow. The supporting characters are likeable and the villain leading the biker gang is a proper asshole. The action is minimal and the more action packed finale is particularly interesting, but it's survivable (although I prefer gangster movies full of dead bodies, drugs, torture and shootouts), so this is more of an old school feel good genre flick, but it will please everyone just because of Stallone. 75%

This year's first mainstream horror genre film is just your average high tech affair. Although M3gan has received good reviews overseas (Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB are both overwhelmingly praiseworthy), die-hard horror fans are certainly not overflowing with enthusiasm. M3gan is a modern variation on Chucky for Gen Z, so to speak, highlighting the dangers of modern technology and how treacherous it can be. Unfortunately the film is hurt by the PG-13 rating and it's all too family friendly and safe. It rambles on for over an hour and getting to know the characters isn't much fun, in short it's more of a drama about a little girl's relationship with a doll that classically starts to turn into a killer monster. It's a shame the premise didn't live up to its potential, it aimed for big things, butthe few murders probably wouldn't have been much even with an R-rating (we might have got 2-3 small gore scenes), which, compared to the new Evil Dead  is a mockery. The atmosphere doesn't work very well and the scares aren't there either, so it plays more on a disturbing note, but I wasn't too impressed with that either. Some even claim it's a comedy, but you must have a very obscure sense of humour. The finale at least saved it from being average for me. The battle in the house is very well filmed. M3GAN is properly creepy there for the first time in the film (her moves are admittedly copied from demons in traditional exorcism genre movies, but it looks even cooler in a robotic way) and her final appearance is also decent, It’s not worth going to the cinema, it's watchable, but the movie would be more fitting on VOD. 55%

A home invasion/slasher film with a Covid theme and the first nice piece this year. The story a classic template. A group of friends go to a remote lake house to spend lockdown, but they are ambushed by an aggressive killer. It doesn't have the classic slasher props (the killer doesn't have a cool mask, he's not immortal, his reveal isn't shocking and he doesn't have a slow walk), but it does have a great touch of Scream. The killer's running, the knife, the aggression, and he doesn't fight with his victims. After the opening 30 minutes of introductions, the film picks up a great pace and doesn't let up until the end. The murders are both imaginative and quite enjoyably gory, the victims and the bad guy get a good beating and the pain comes through, which is very welcome. In terms of craftsmanship, it's also a job well done, absolutely no reservations here (the CGI fire at the end is surprisingly cool), and I have to praise the twist/motivation of the killer, it’s refreshing and definitely unexpected in the genre. The only thing that annoyed me was the adherence to the covid rules, but you can ignore that. Otherwise it's a very enjoyable, entertaining and very action-packed genre film, and I'm happy to throw in an extra star. 7/10

The first sexploitation flick of the year. The story is about prostitutes satisfying horny truckers who are joined by a strongly religious girl from a cult to perform a cleansing. So we have a clash of religion and prostitution, a corrupt sheriff, and the American backwoods in Montana. Visually, it's not as cheap as it might first appear, it's quite skillfully shot, the girls aren't afraid of nudity (showing boobs twice is insufficient given the topic though), and the genre delights are not over-represented. Most of the murders are either out of frame or done in the same style (stabbing in the stomach), don't expect any gore, just some blood, which won't get anyone off their seat these days. There is a gay rape and a creepy priest, which are probably the most interesting scenes. The rest unfortunately offers nothing new and doesn't even cross the boundaries in the genre. It's short and watchable, so it doesn't offend. 5.5/10.

One of the most lauded South Koren films of last year is finally out and I have to say, it got on my nerves and made my skin crawl! The protagonist gets himself locked up in a juvenile delinquent institution to get revenge on the murderers who killed his brother, and it's definitely not a place you want to be voluntarily. If the North is famous for having the worst juvenile delinquent institutions, Korea doesn't fuck around either. Bullying, violence, fighting and humiliation of the deepest grain. As soon as a new scumbag enters the institution halfway through the film, there's total order and respect, a spineless scumbag you definitely don't want to be in the room with. The director is a classically insidious bastard, and this whole colossus of violence culminates in a shocking catharsis in the bathroom, with plenty of blood. Definitely awesome. There's also a lot of melancholy and sad music playing throughout the film that will make sensitive individuals weep. To make matters worse, the finale is topped off with a brutal twist that will give you a boner. I didn't see that coming. No wonder the film has an 85% rating on IMDB and is another Korean masterpiece on an unpleasant subject.

Alice in Borderland director Shinsuke Sato is making his presence known very soon with the sequel to one of the best-selling Mang Kingdom. I really liked the first installment, it had a bit of an RPG feel to it. The protagonist travels the countryside, recruiting new people to his team and killing opponents along the way, each with a different difficulty level; it entertained me, and when you have great visuals and awesome action, there's not much to complain about. The second part brings a more epic scale and you could say it's a two-hour battle between two nations with Hollywood effects and a cool soundtrack. There's not much of a story and historians will grumble that it's a rape of Chinese history, but it's fantasy, it's manga and ironically the battle is better filmed than anything China has ever done about the Qin dynasty. The protagonist dreams of becoming a great general and really does everything to do so. The action has great choreography and cinematography, the assassins, the ninjas, the samurai – I just love it. At times I thought back to Rurouni Kenshin and thought that there hasn't been an action flick like this since Kenshin from Japan. It was also nice to see a new female character on the scene, trained to kill since she was a kid, and she goes for a very nice solo (very over powered). I also have to praise the costumes, hairstyles and overall look of the generals, it's really iconic and you can like all the characters, which is terribly important. Those who like epic and long battles, without any lengthy explanations and boring bullshit, will enjoy it as much as I did. 75%

A solid martial arts ride from Vietnam and a strong step forward for Vietnamese cinema. Vietnam is one of the underdogs in Asia for me (Korea and Indonesia definitely reign supreme, then comes Japan, Hong Kong with Thailand, Tai Wan and only then would I include Vietnam), so I certainly didn't have high expectations, but the highly positive reviews abroad got my attention and it's really decent. The plot is classically straightforward, but it's also about love, family and its protectiveness, which will evoke emotions in most viewers, and that's a plus – it's a bit of a variation on the Korean film The Man from Nowhere. The protagonist is a trucker who has his beloved daughter kidnapped by a psychopath and will have to fight his way through a large criminal organization to catch him. So we have a determined father, who is a martial arts whiz, so he goes up against 50 himself and makes clever use of the national Vietnamese fighting technique, Vovinam. There are plenty of action scenes and I liked the interesting alternation of locations. The fight between the containers against a large outnumbered group where he gets help from a handy woman was very cool, and the fight against the female biker gang with different weapons was also great. The finale has its charm too, we finally get some 1v1 fights against henchmen, and they are choreographed well. The great technical aspect is also good. The film looks really nice, the main character is likeable, it's well paced, so a fan of martial art films should have no reason to be disappointed. The only thing I'm a bit disappointed about is the lack of gore and no limb breaking, so not many characters die as a result, but I can live with that. A nice surprise. 7.5/10.

Season 1: Middle East/Islam, Great. Season 2: Venezuela, Great. Season 3. Russia, BORING. Quite a topical subject, but I was hardly entertained. There is woefully little action (almost no fights), nothing to remember. Lots of politicking, betrayals and bullshit, but this isn't Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, so it didn't work at all for me and I had great difficulty finishing it.The Terminal List with Chris Pratt was like much better in every way (story, action, pacing, militarism). For me, barely average. 5/10.

John R. Leonetti is back with a new demon ghost story and it's average again. The court cinematographer of the Insidious universe and James Wan alumn has learned a thing or two from the master, but none of his films deserve more than 3 stars, and Lullaby in particular could be considered the brightest moment of his career. We have the classic three-member family in an apartment and the demon Lilith who steals people's newborn babies and raises them her way. I liked the mythology around the demon, they give a pretty decent background, one of the best things in the film, and the look of the demon itself is also interesting, especially the two headed baby demon looked great (the newborn graveyard on the other hand is one of the visual highlights). The downside is the rather slower pace, the ineffective jump-scares, and the atmosphere, which only starts to work in the finale, but throughout the film it's all kind of tepid and unscary. A couple of scenes were okay, but as a whole it comes out as average at best. 6/10.

A crazy B-movie flick from Switzerland by fans for fans. A girl named Heidi is kidnapped by Nazis and moved to a harsh women's prison with harsh rules. Luckily she manages to escape, gets proper martial arts training and kicks everyone's ass with a halberd! The plot is silly and the visuals are very B-grade, but it's teeming with cool and original ideas, absurd and twisted humor, grotesque gore with practical effects, a heroic female protagonist, Swiss Nazis, allusions to Switzerland (chocolate, cheese, Swiss pocket knifes), 1970s nudity and a national obsession with cheese. Lactose intolerant people belongs behind bars! The action is good too, it has a very Rodriguez touch, like in Machete, Iron Sky, Sky Sharks – those who like that kind of shit, will come to their own here. Some of the lines are really crazy. Among the actors, Casper Van Dien as the dictator and the attractive Alice Lucy as Mad Heidi are great. A fun and twisted one-off for a narrower audience. Swissploitation first of its kind. 65%.