Year: 2018
Director: Gregory Plotkin
Cast: Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Roby Attal, Christian James, Matt Mercurio
Plot: Three young couples attend Hell Fest, an elaborate horror fair filled with realistic scares. The group is subsequently stalked by a masked killer whom they mistakenly believe to be part of the horror show.
Review: As far as slasher flicks go, Hell Fest isn't breaking much new ground, other than the location and the killer blending into the surroundings. But originality isn't the most important thing for me, because I am looking for a competent film that knows how to have fun. In that sense, Hell Fest succeeds more often than not.
Director Gregory Plotkin uses his chosen environment efficiently, deploying an endless series of fake jumpscares (it's a huge haunted house essentially) while making the best of various lighting tricks to illuminate the rooms at just the right level. Many of his scare tactics are familiar and old school, for sure, but most of the time they work, even if you can sense them coming a mile away.
Plotkin's trump card has to be the elaborate maze of horrors at the fair itself. He certainly went through great lengths to recreate several effective haunted houses filled with blood, mannequins, actual people in costumes, rail cars, weapons, mirrors, masks and sound effects. Even if it doesn't scare you, you'll be in awe of the effort the filmmakers made here.
The six youths portraying the three couples are convincing enough as the token horror roles here. Amy Forsyth is cute and likable enough as the trademark final girl, Reign Edwards is good as her loyal best friend and Bex Taylor-Klaus nails it as the horny/bitchy one. The legendary Tony Todd makes an appearance as a character at the fair. The killer here, credited as The Other, is just a guy in a mask and a hoodie, armed with an ice pick. His greatest asset apparently, is stealth.
All in all, Hell Fest is a fun slasher horror flick that delivers exactly what it advertises. If you want to have some fun with horror before the Halloween sequel shows up soon, this works just fine. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Aneesh Chaganty
Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Michella La
Plot: When David Kim's daughter Margot goes missing, he uses every tool available on the internet to find her, but hits a major stumbling block when he realises he doesn't know his daughter as well as he thought.
Review: Searching is a new thriller presented from the POV of a frantic father looking at a computer screen. Does that sound familiar?
Yes folks, this is just like Unfriended, minus the horror and gory deaths. David Kim, a widower looking for his missing daughter, uses all the internet tools we know of, and a few fictional ones in place of the actual ones, to find her, such as Facebook, Youtube, Google, Tumblr and the fictitious Youcast (which works exactly like Instagram Live). Like Unfriended, it works tremendously well as a storytelling device, and it does not diminish the performances of the cast in any way. Through David's conversations with the police, his brother and his daughter's friends, we learn that he isn't as close to his daughter as he figured, and that he had drifted apart from her after his wife's recent death.
These internet tools also succeed in delivering the thrills whenever David gets a new lead or gets emotional, as the cameras in play capture nearly every frame, and when that isn't enough, we get live TV news reports. Director Aneesh Chaganty, who co-wrote the film with Sev Ohanian, deftly places clues and red herrings throughout the entire film to keep the audience guessing as to what happened to David's daughter Margot, and the payoff is well worth the wait.
John Cho proves that he is a very underrated actor as he delivers a tour de force performance as David, convincingly conveying the kind of reaction we would have if one of our loved ones goes missing. I hope this film leads to Cho getting more lead roles in the future. Debra Messing also puts in strong support as the detective who assists David in finding Margot.
The film does occasionally make you wonder how easy it is for people to obtain information about other people who are complete strangers to them, or how David seems to have to do a lot of stuff most detectives would already be doing in a case like this. Nevertheless, it isn't enough to spoil your enjoyment here.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Searching, as both an educational tool and a piece of entertainment. If it doesn't teach you about how to use the internet to your advantage, it will remind you about the importance of family. Recommended. (8/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Thomas Jane, Sterling K Brown, Alfie Allen, Keegan-Michael Key, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, Yvonne Strahovski, Brian A Prince
Plot: When a pair of Predators bring their fight with one another to Earth, only a group of crazy soldiers and a biologist stand between them and total chaos.
Review: So what does Shane Black, the man who played Hawkins in the original and writer of the legendary Lethal Weapon, and director of Iron Man 3 and The Nice Guys bring to the table for this updated entry in the Predator franchise? After seeing it, the one word that comes to mind is "unconventional".
It's clear that Black and co-writer Fred Dekker wanted to create an entirely different animal with The Predator. This time, it's not about hunting man anymore, but about the evolution of the Predator race. Black and Dekker pitch the idea that Predators are now all about enhancement and superiority, and humans on Earth are just one of the pieces of the puzzle. So on the other side of this, we have a kid with Asperger's who is smart enough to understand Predator technology, a female biologist and a group of PTSD soldiers who have to team up and stop the Predators.
Now, all this doesn't sound too bad on paper, but Black's execution is rather messy. I honestly didn't mind the constant humor projected by the soldiers, who constantly act like they just got out of the psych ward. But Black should have edited the amount of time spent hanging with these guys, as their antics pretty much overshadowed the Predators' threat. Speaking of the Predators, Black throws in a couple of Predator dogs, which were kinda cool until one of them gets domesticated after taking a shot to the head. Another one of Black's weird attempts at humor? Maybe, but this one honestly didn't work.
Cast wise, Boyd Holbrook is rather miscast as lead hero McKenna, not having the dramatic chops to play a father. Personally I felt that he should switch roles with Thomas Jane, who got the role of a soldier with Tourette's, and it was played for laughs too. Jane would have nailed the role since he had played Jacob Tremblay's father in Before I Wake, so the two would have looked convincing here. Tremblay is on point here as Rory McKenna, being no stranger to playing kids with problems. Olivia Munn is okay as the biologist, but her character got the hang of throwing herself at danger way too quickly. Sterling K Brown fares better as government agent Traeger, while Trevante Rhodes, Augusto Aguilera, Alfie Allen and Keegan-Michael Key give a nice sense of variation playing the crazy crew. Jake Busey, who is thrown in here as the son of his real life father's character from Predator 2, is given zero to do here. His connection to Gary Busey isn't even mentioned, much less explored. A total waste.
The good part is, Black doesn't hold back on the violence. We have dismemberments, disembowelments, beheadings and impalings. The action sequences are a mixed bag though. A lot of them take place in the dark and are sometimes difficult to make out, though the final fight was well executed.
In the end, The Predator isn't a bad movie, but it's certainly not an easy film to get behind. Honestly, I expected more from Black. I'd give him credit for having the balls to make this film, but a more conventional approach would have been wiser. (6.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Albert Hughes
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Johannes Haukur Johannesson, Chuck the wolfdog
Plot: Set during the stone age in Europe. A young man gets separated from his tribe and left for dead after a bull hunting expedition goes wrong. He has to find his own way home, with only a wolf for company.
Review: Alpha is one half a survival story, and one half a dramatic story about a friendship between a human and a wolf. The fact that it is set during the stone age, complete with an unknown language with subtitles, makes it a bit more interesting.
Keda is a young man who follows his father and tribe on a hunting expedition as a rite of passage to adulthood. During the hunt, Keda is attacked by a large bull and thrown of a cliff. Presumed dead by his father and tribe, he is left behind to fend for himself. Keda now has to survive on his own, which he does with a little bit of help from a wolf he injured in self defence and nursed back to health.
Much like The Revenant, Alpha highlights the arduous challenge of surviving in the wild. In Keda's case, he has to brave an injured leg, wild animals, rough terrain and the freezing winter. Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht skillfully captures the vast and unforgiving wild of Alberta, Canada, standing in for Europe 20000 years ago. Director Albert Hughes does a good job in balancing between Keda's eventual rise from weak youth to brave man, and his relationship with Alpha the wolf. Alpha is initially portrayed as a hostile animal who sees Keda as prey, but it eventually learns to respect and love its new human friend.
Kodi Smit-McPhee is certainly an inspired choice for the role of Keda, and he does not disappoint. His acting and facial expressions are all spot on. Johannes Haukur Johannesson also scores as his father, who is both firm and loving. Credit must also go to Chuck the wolfdog who convincingly portrays Alpha.
My main gripe would be the rather slow pace, especially during the first act as the story takes its time to get started. Personally I wouldn't recommend this story to viewers who either want action sequences or get lethargic easily.
In the end, Alpha is a solid adventure drama that qualifies as good family entertainment, and a nice alternative to those who abhor horror or violence in other current movies currently screening. (7/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Pierre Morel
Cast: Jennifer Garner, John Gallagher Jr, John Ortiz, Juan Pablo Raba
Plot: When corrupt judges and lawyers deny Riley North justice for her slain husband and daughter at the hands of a drug kingpin, she disappears for five years and returns to deliver payback to everyone involved.
Review: Peppermint joins the long list of revenge movies that have been made over the years, from Death Wish to Death Sentence, The Punisher, The Brave One, Kill Bill, Law Abiding Citizen and John Wick. But does it stand out?
Director Pierre Morel, whose only real hit in English so far is Taken, probably tried to avoid repetition when it comes to revenge stories. In this case, the protagonist Riley North has a long list of people to kill, which includes a corrupt judge and the lawyers on both sides who were all on drug kingpin Diego Garcia's payroll. But Morel chooses to skim over these characters' deaths quickly instead of allowing the audience the satisfaction of seeing their lives end. Even the three men who pulled the trigger on her family get the short treatment from Morel, who may have wanted to avoid showing Riley kill one scumbag after another as the story goes along. Even so, I felt some of these kills could have been elaborated a bit for the audience's benefit.
Morel instead focuses more time on the cops and the FBI hunting her down, and the media's attempt to paint Riley as a vigilante hero. All this is fine, but not enough time is spent on Riley's point of view of her actions i.e. whether she regrets anything she does. Even her time spent on training during those missing five years isn't shown.
Thankfully, Jennifer Garner is still game for action since Alias had ended years ago, and still manages to deliver a solid emotional performance as Riley. She certainly looks great as she mercilessly takes down every bad guy that steps in front of her. John Gallagher Jr and John Ortiz provide some support as the two cops tracking her down, while Juan Pablo Raba throws in a somewhat textbook but competent performance as Diego. Riley's final confrontation with Diego is sadly much too brief for my liking.
Despite that, Morel orchestrates a handful of good action sequences which involve Riley engaging in shootouts with Diego's men. This, and Garner's strong acting just manage to make Peppermint entertaining enough.
Overall, Peppermint is a decent revenge tale, which could have been great if Morel gave us more of Riley and more details on her path of vengeance. (6/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Corin Hardy
Cast: Taissa Farmiga, Demian Bichir, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons
Plot: A priest and a young novitiate travel to Romania to investigate a nun's suicide at a mysterious abbey there, and encounter the evil demon Valak.
Review: The Nun is a spin-off film from The Conjuring 2, where that film's villain, Valak first appeared. This film examines the origins of the demon dating back to 1952 in Romania.
Director Corin Hardy (The Hallow) does a solid enough job in making The Nun a thrilling ride for mainstream horror audiences, but he doesn't quite have the touch of James Wan. Wan knows how to set the mood for a terrifying experience and how to chill your spine with his visual skills. Hardy adopts a different approach where he throws one scare after another towards the audience, and thankfully a lot of them are well earned. But some of them are a bit predictable, and he relies on the darkness element a bit too frequently. The opening sequence was well done though.
As for the cast, they are convincing enough for the most part. Taissa Farmiga (Vera's younger sister) gives Sister Irene the right balance of youth, innocence and courage to solve the mystery even at great risk to herself. She fares better than Demian Bichir, whose Father Burke is the textbook troubled priest seeking redemption after a failed exorcism. Bichir is good in the role, but the role itself could have been better written. Jonas Bloquet plays Frenchie, a villager who brings the duo to the abbey and becomes their defacto sidekick, and the defacto humor element, which he pulls off quite well, I must say. Speaking of humor, The Nun has a bit more of it than Wan's Conjuring films, as the latter movies take themselves much more seriously.
Aside from being less scary than Wan's films, The Nun suffers from a few unexplored subplots and lapses in logic, though you'd probably be having so much fun you wouldn't notice them. If they get to make a sequel to this film, perhaps some of these subplots can be explored further.
As it stands, The Nun is best described as an exciting horror theme park ride rather than a really good haunted house experience at the park. Much like last year's It remake, it's a lot of fun, but not as scary as it ought to be. (7.5/10)
Year: 2018
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, Orson Bean
Plot: Robert McCall steps back into action when his friend Susan is murdered while investigating an agency hit.
Review: The first Equalizer movie was a success, so it's a no-brainer that star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua team up for a sequel.
This sequel is actually very much like the first movie, as it follows the same familiar beats. Those of you expecting something different might end up being disappointed, but personally I didn't mind it. I wanted to see McCall kick ass and take names, and he does just that.
It's a different city from the last one, and instead of working at the hardware store by day and reading at a 24 hour cafe by night, McCall is now a Grab driver, still doing what he does for people who need help, from rescuing kidnapped children to getting even with rich yuppies gang raping a girl. In the previous movie, McCall helps a young prostitute escape her pimp, but this time he helps a teenage boy who is an aspiring artist, stay away from gangbangers in his neighborhood. However, the chief villains are not the gangs, but the people who killed his friend Susan (the same one who assisted him in the first film) for knowing too much. So this time it's a personal vendetta for our anonymous avenger.
Fuqua's steady direction and Richard Wenk's solid script keeps the sequel interesting despite the familiarity. It also helps that Washington is still the best at what he does, oozing charisma and screen presence as he takes down the bad guys while making it look like it's another day at the office. Fascinatingly enough, it's his attempt to convince Miles, the young teenager to get back on the right path that feels most effective, as compared to his effort to get even with the men who killed Susan.
Pedro Pascal puts in a decent effort as McCall's friend but Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) fares much better as Miles, and plays off Washington quite well. Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman reprise their roles from the previous film, but I do wish Pullman had more to do here.
A couple of things didn't work for me that much, the first being the villains who are no match for McCall. He remains mostly unchallenged here, just like the first time around. The other one is the subplot regarding Samuel, an old Polish man whom McCall helps reunite with a long lost relative. This subplot slowed the film down a bit and could have been edited slightly.
Overall I enjoyed The Equalizer 2, despite it being a been-there-done-that sequel. If they make a third movie, hopefully they give McCall a real challenge. (7.5/10)
