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michaelRokeefe
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Black Wake (2018)
Baffling deaths
Very liberal in rating this one. Gave it a chance and stuck with it to the final credits. Several specialist in a secret facility try to understand as they investigate a series of weird deaths all along Atlantic Ocean beaches. One scientist, Dr. Luiza Moreira (Nana Gouvea), is ignored as she examines video evidence.
Sorry, but this plot progressively just makes very little sense. Atrociously bad editing as Moreira executes found footage of people nearing any water having bugs (looking like mutated scorpions) leaping into their mouths. After victims have their brains eaten they become standard zombies. This film is not tragic, but laughable.
Also in the cast: Eric Roberts, Jonny Beauchamp, Brielle Edborg, Kelly Rae LeGualt and Tom Sizemore.
Wanderlust (2012)
Raunchy comedy
After a fast-paced life falls apart, a Manhattan couple find themselves in a financial bind and can no longer afford living high-on-the-hog. George (Paul Rudd) , a corporate exec and Linda (Jennifer Aniston), a career jumper, packs up and heads to Atlanta looking for shelter and help from George's irritating obnoxious brother Rick (Ken Marino).
On the way to hot Atlanta, the couple check into a bed and breakfast called Elysium, that actually is a rural commune of eccentric pot smoking, exotic dancing and free-loving hippies. Doesn't take too much for George and Linda to get sucked into this free-style of hippy living. Off-beat, crude, raunchy, lewd jokes and nudity help with the R rating.
Rounding out the cast: Malin Akerman, Alan Alda, Kathryn Hahn, Lauren Ambrose, Jordan Peele and Linda Lavin.
El páramo (2021)
Fear brings togetherness
Depression can be departmentalized in loneliness, terror and the desperation to survive. This film is set in the 19th century, with a small family living in isolation in a deserted wasteland in Spain. Salvador (Roberto Alamo) appears briefly as he leaves deep into the wasteland in search for a menacing beast.
Salvador's wife Lucia (Imma Cuesta) and young son Diego (Asler Flores) isolated from the rest of society in their modest home are bracing for their worst fears of confronting a horrific beast. The creature lurks in the shadows and the viewer doesn't get to see it on screen as the story line gets even grittier and feeds on paranoia. The mother and son form a strong, yet strange, relationship not knowing if the feared creature is real or just a product of their hallucinations. Could this be the devil incarnate?
Till Death (2021)
When suicide isn't enough
Mark Webster (Eoin Macken) has been a successful New York attorney that changed over to become a defense attorney after ten years. He prosecuted a low-life Bobby Hodges (Callan Mulvey), who assaulted a pretty photographer Emma (Megan Fox) leaving her face badly bruised. When Mark is about to be indicted for evidence tampering in a few cases, he is unwilling to face the music. He has decided to put a bullet in his head.
The lawyer drives his trophy wife to their lake house for one last romantic evening. He takes time to phone a couple of unsavory clients; then dramatically Mark handcuffs his wife to himself before pulling the trigger. The lovely Fox with perfect makeup puts in one of her finest performances.
Coming Home in the Dark (2021)
More than a little creepy
Better known actor James Ashcroft directs his first feature film,and I believe he meets his main ambitions.
On a wind-swept New Zealand camping trip, an everyday family, Hoagie (Erik Thomson), Jill (Miriama McDowell) and their teenage sons Jordan (Frankie Paratene) and Maika (Billy Paratene) are caught by surprise. They are approached by a cocky individual Mandrake (Daniel Gilles) and his awkward brooding sidekick Tubbs (Matthias Luafutu) on this cold, dreary day. Only Jill gets the immediate feel of misdeeds on the stranger's minds. Suddenly the family's spirits are dampened and dastardly things come to fruition. Bulk of the script is very slow, creepy and gets under your skin. And you do feel the cold New Zealand atmosphere.
The Innocents (1961)
A classic and cult favorite
This gothic psychological horror film would be nice for a younger audience to appreciate. Directed by Jack Clayton and stars Deborah Kerr as Miss Giddens, an inexperienced Victorian governess hired by a wealthy London businessman (Michael Redgrave) to take full care of his children that he cares little about and doesn't want to deal with their problems. She soon falls in love with her new charges and they seem to adore her.
The tension builds slowly, and you more than imagine chills playing with your spine as Miss Giddens begins to hear strange sounds and voices in the mansion. Real fright sets in when the young governess begins seeing ghosts and even has concern the children are being manipulated. Is this the handy work of the spirits or just her disturbed imagination?
Black Cab (2024)
Strange driver in a black sedan
Bruce Goodison directs a dark, moody thriller. Anne (Synnove Karlsen) and Patrick (Luke Norris) meet up with two friends at a restaurant to enjoy dinner. The couple's relationship runs afoul, a bit cockeyed not for the first time, but then things quickly turns to rainbows and roses. Everything seems back to normal and they have quickly reconciled and surprises their friends by announcing their engagement. Anne for some reason decides unhappily wanting to leave. Patrick hails a black cab.
The driver (Nick Frost) is chirpy and chatty to the point Patrick is finding him annoying. Anne ends up in an argument with Patrick noticing the driver is now motoring down a long stretch of deserted road...known as the "most haunted road in England". The driver starts talking about ghosts and spirits and hinting of his dark motives and true intentions for his passengers.
While the Children Sleep (2006)
A nanny too good to be true!
Not staight-to-video, but made-for cable thriller. An affluent California couple Carter (William R. Moses) and Meghan (Gail O'Grady) hire a sweet teen Abby (Mariana Klaveno) as a live-in nanny for their two children. Shortly after her arrival, the neighborhood becomes home to gruesome demises. Megham gets suspicious about Abby, whose obsession with Carter is becoming too obvious. Could it be that the kid's care giver harbors the dark secret of taking their mother's place and tries to rule the house.
Klaveno rocks it! Also in the cast are Stacy Haiduk, Joanne Baron, Jon Lindstrom and Kristi Clainos.
Occupation: Rainfall (2020)
Hell-bent alien attack
Two years after an intergalactic invasion, the resistance in Australia is still fighting the alien forces. The resistance has managed to grow in numbers and has become stronger. The military has created a device called "Rainfall" that should turn the tide against the alien invaders.
The enemy threat has increased in area and veteran soldier Matt Simmons (Dan Ewing) sets out getting control of "Rainfall" while friend Amelia (Jet Tranter) butts heads with Wing Commander Hayes (Daniel Gillies), who is a bellowing sadistic officer that favors harsh torture of any captured aliens.
Some first rate visual effects and relative excitement for a movie with budget issues. Rounding out the cast are Temuera Morrison, Dena Kaplan and Lawrence Makoare.
The Hoarder (2015)
Creepy bloodshed
Ella (Mischa Barton) does not trust her fiance, so she decides to snoop through his storage unit in a seedy part of town. But deep in the lower depths of the warehouse, Ella meets a half dozen other customers telling her there is more than just old chairs and tables and keepsake memorabilia being locked away here. There seems to be a ruthless psychopath in the process of building his own "collection". Call him the Hoarder and he rules the maze-like building. Ella and the others must find a way out to avoid surely a blood-splattering rampage of the Hoarder. How many, if any, will manage to see tomorrow.
Wild Boar (2019)
Bloodthirsty mutants
I may have been generous with the rating; this I'm sure is worse than the African Swine Flu. A small group of treasure seekers, also known as "Geocachers', made up of family and friends, trek into the desert to beat a 'Geocache' Challenge. Weird how people can do strange things for a thrill. Out in the desert they stumble upon an unbelievable world consumed with waves of radiation and inhabited by a race of bloodthirsty mutants who have evolved from pigs that prey on humans who happen to cross their way. The temptation is too much for Lamb (Augie Duke), her boyfriend (Daniel Roebuck), and his brother (Jim Nieb) to not investigate. Their friends (Jessica Sonneborn) and (Michael Reed) join the group in a forbidden zone where they are the prey of the hideous swine predators.
Mum & Dad (2008)
Abusive imprisonment!
An extremely sickening and dark look into a depraved family. Awesome immorality with disturbing abusiveness and mediocre sexual undercurrent spread throughout.
A young Polish immigrant Lena (Olga Fedori) working as an office cleaner at Heathrow Airport, misses her last bus home and accepts a ride from her friendly co-worker Birdie (Ainsley Howard). Birdie lives close by in a little house by the airport with her Mum (Dido Miles) and Dad (Perry Benson). Birdie takes Lena to meet her folks and brother Elbie (Toby Alexander).
Lena finds herself knocked unconscious and held captive by a deranged family of murderers. Lena is forced by the insane family to do household chores or be raped by Dad in a torture room. How is Lena going to escape the insidious Mum and Dad?
Possum (2018)
Slow burning psychological torture.
Dark, deceptive and don't let your attention stray. Philip (Sean Harris) seems like a lonesome loser, but is actually a disgraced children's puppeteer, who is returning to the small town where he grew up. Philip wants to confront his childhood nightmares. His parents died in a house fire and now he must get reacquainted with his Uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong), who takes pleasure in taunting and mentally abusing him.
Philip is a quiet soul that roams the local river and woods carrying a large bag that contains a grotesque spider-like puppet called Possum, a lifeless creature that haunts him. Dark and foreboding, Philip must rid himself of Possum to clear his unsettling moments of emotion and disgrace.
Caveat (2020)
Mystery and madness unravels
Mind-bending and powerful exploration in psychological horror. Keeping up with the mainstream, manufactured tension, mild to moderate jump scares and director/writer Damian Mc Carthy is not shy with living in the shadows.
Isaac (Jonathan French) is a lone drifter listing in a daze and drifting from here to there taking work as he can get it. Suffering from amnesia doesn't help his situation. Isaac's landlord (Ben Caplan) offers him money to look after his niece Olga (Leila Sykes) for a few days. This job isn't as easy as it may sound for Olga lives alone on a isolated island and suffers major mental problems. Oh, he also is forced to wear a harness and chain to restrict his movements.
Very atmospheric, random creepy sounds and eerie background music by Richard G. Mitchell.
Big Bad Bugs (2012)
Close that wormhole!
Peter Paul Basler directs and co-writes this action adventure that some may say don't forget the unintentional comedic scenes. Dr. Sydney Gerber (Camden Toy), an old and even madder scientist, unexpectedly opened a wormhole somewhere in Afghanistan. American soldiers and Gerber disappears forcing another man of science Dr. William Marx (Jack Plotnick) and a special ops team to be deployed on a rescue mission. With pansy acting Marx not knowing much at all about military ways, Lieutenant Raiger (Ted Jonas) has the goods to get the mission accomplished. They immediately are attacked by an army of gigantic scorpions, spiders and snakes that have made their way to earth from another dimension via the open wormhole.
The special effects and CGI are questionable at best; but let's go with the flow and enjoy monstrous spiders squeal like frolicking pigs!
Throwback (2015)
Treasure hunt in Australian rainforest
Director Travis Bain uses picturesque landscape to his advantage in this suspense tale of two estranged friends Jack (Shawn Brack) and Kent (Anthony Ring) hike into the depths of far north Queensland in search of the lost treasure of a notorious outlaw. The two don't realize the area is the center of several disappearances. The two men find themselves pitted against each other and after splitting up are hunted and terrorized by a large Yowie (Australia's answer to Sasquatch).
A female park ranger Rhiannon (Melanie Serafin) and a unhinged undercover homicide detective McNab (Vernon Wells) joins the mix. A convincing monster and suspenseful story elevates a very slow burner.
Da xue guai (2019)
Futuristic dilema with creatures
SNOW MONSTER is an action/adventure that is set in 2045 in the Arctic area. Also known as SNOW MONSTER vs ICE SHARK is a misleading title that was forsaken. A Chinese Gene Research Company sends Shen Yiqin (Yongxian Zhang) into a snowy wilderness that is suggested to have a zone that could produce genetic variations. Possibly producing creatures much larger than normal. With communication lost with an advance team, Ren Yi Fel (Jucheng Wu) is assigned to lead a rescue mission instead of research. He accepts for his ex-girlfriend is one of the missing.
The rescue team is attacked by a huge ice shark and the leaping shark is later grabbed in flight by a gigantic yeti-like creature that munches on it after beating it to death. CGI en masse.
Cerdita (2022)
Beware of payback
Sara (Laura Galan) is an overweight teen living in a small town in Spain. Everyone seems to have a cruel opinion about Sara's size, even her own mother is unbearably reproachful about her daughter's weight.
When she is not working in her father's store or being bullied, Sara will be a recluse in her bedroom dipping into her stash of 'fat girl" snacks. Fighting deep depression, Sara decides to walk to the public swimming pool where a clique of cool girls bully her almost to the point of drowning. Then they take her clothes forcing her to a long walk home in her swimsuit. A mysterious man driving by throws her a towel to coverup with.
When two people are found dead and three girls are missing, Sara is going to be a reluctant witness or declared a suspect.
Grotesque imagery and skillful pulp porn torture sputters in effective cinematography. The cast also features Irene Ferreiro, Claudia Salas, Jose Pastor, Fernando Delgado-Hierro and Richard Holmes.
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
Try to stall Doom's Day
Directed and co-written by M. Night Shyamalan tries to get away from his usual jaw-dropping twists that often shocks and baffles. Knock At The Cabin is pretty much straight forward and to the point. The story is based on Paul G. Tremblay's 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World. Tremblay shares in the screenplay.
A same-sex couple (Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge) and their adopted daughter (Kristen Cui) are vacationing at their remote cabin when their holiday is interrupted by four armed strangers presenting them with an unthinkable choice to make. Led by a hulking Leonard (Dave Bautista), the strangers (Abby Quinn, Rupert Grint and Nikki Amuka-Bird) insist that they are trying to avert an apocalypse. They need one of the hostages to pick among themselves which one will be sacrificed to save all humanity from world-destroying plagues.
Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley (2024)
The rebirthing of Elvis!
Jason Hehir of The Last Dance fame directs this Netflix documentary that reminds us of the most defining TV hour of Elvis Presley's unequaled career. No stranger to the small screen since those hip-swinging, pelvis thrusting days when he was dangerous to the days of bejeweled white jumpsuits. The 1968 NBC special originally titled "Singer Presents Elvis" was a return to live performing in seven years. This was possibly Elvis' last chance to reclaim his throne as the "King of Rock and Roll". At this time Presley was not navigating the nation's musical mainstream very well.
This special features behind-the-scenes and aired footage of that monumental program filmed in Los Angeles for NBC. Besides outtakes and highlight Elvis performances are current interviews from Presley superfans Conan O'Brien, the late Robbie Robertson, Baz Luhrmann, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. Priscilla Presley provides some golden memories. (She had never seen her husband perform live until that taping of the '68 special.) So inspiring to see the world's most popular entertainer find his freedom and regain his true path of greatness.
For Sale (2024)
Haunted house for sale!
Mason McGiness (Andrew Roth) is a true conniver good at selling himself and managing to find ways to cheat people into buying things that they really don't even need. One day, his over-sized ego backfired on him and he found himself given the heave-ho at his job; that evening his ex-girlfriend sent him packing and kicked his butt to the curb.
Desperate Mason takes a job at a small realty company and claims he can sell the most unsellable piece of property they have. An unknown catch to the egomaniac, the property is the Scarlett Clay home, a well reputed haunted house where anyone who signs ownership papers ends up the next/latest ghost of the home.
This horror comedy also stars Corinne Britti, Maria Christina Perry, Steve Montague and Frank M. Stallone.
Chained (2012)
Hailing a cab is dangerous
Not for the faint of heart. Bob Fittler (Vincent D'Onofrio) is a slow-witted, inconspicuous serial killer. This brutal cab driving madman specializes in kidnapping and slaughtering women. His latest target is Sarah (Julia Ormond) and her young son Tim. After Sarah becomes another taxi cab victim, her son is kept as Bob's prisoner, chained to the house eating only scraps and keeping the house clean. Tim ( Eamon Farren) is dubbed "Rabbit" and under Bob's influence and abuse for years, watching and listening to the depraved raping, torture and killing of woman after woman; he gets the unexpected chance to finally escape his psychopath tormentor. But putting an end to his nightmare is not going to be that easy.
A jaw-dropping, blood-curdling climax will leave your mind messed for awhile. D'Onofrio is as you have never seen him before. Also in the cast are Conor Leslie, Jake Weber, Gina Phillips and Evan Bird (as the young Tim).
Bad Moms (2016)
Shut your face!
I may have rated Bad Moms a little too high, but it is hilarious...filthy funny. Just how rough is motherhood? Overworked and under-appreciated moms are just tired of the constant on-the-go drill of life. The big picture is a way out satire of motherhood pushed into the middle of mommy wars.
Amy (Mila Kunis), working mother of two semi-achieving middle high students, just doesn't have time to breathe. Trading barbs with the kids and being ignored by her loafing husband has had enough. Kiki (Kristen Bell) , a stay-at-home mom of four is recovering from a car wreck that takes a couple of weeks of lounging and watching bad TV during recovery. This brings about low esteem problems. Then there is Carla (Kathryn Hahn), a friend that wants to liberate her friends and helps influence them into some bad behavior.
These over-stressed women are due some rebelling. Slacking off work duties, refusing to be forced into school pie sales, standing up against a soccer coach and even causing revolt at the PTA.
Kunis pretty much carries the film, and I've actually found some respect for Bell. Antics rated R galore. Also in the cast are Christina Applegate, Jada Pickett Smith and JJ Watt.
Moonfall (2022)
The world in a woeful situation
On the brink of annihilation, the world is in a woeful situation as unexplainably the Moon's orbit has been altered out of its trajectory around the Earth. The predicted collision course, without doubt, puts the world on the cusp of annihilation.
A NASA exec and former astronaut "Jo" Fowler (Halle Berry) is convinced she has the key to save us all. Trouble is that only two people believe her...an astronaut from her past Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson) and a conspiracy theorist John Bradly (KC Houseman) agree with her. A hurried mission into space will reveal a secret we didn't know about the moon.
This obvious B movie does have visuals of a true space screen gem. Nonetheless things get a bit hokey and it is hard to redeem anything, but Berry. Also in the cast are Stephen Bogaert, Kelly Yu and Donald Sutherland.
The Axiom (2018)
Psychoanalytic imagery
You need not need a high IQ to watch this one; just keep an open mind and let it flow. A sister and brother McKenzie (Hattie Smith) and Martin (Zac Titus) are joined by reluctant friends traveling deep into a National Forest in search for their missing sister after finding crucial clues in her diary.
Soon upon arrival, they discover that the park is divided into axioms, hidden portals to alternate worlds that are guarded and commanded by predatory multi-dimensional creatures.
Each of the group of friends are dealing with their own personal demons like self-loathing, mental health issues and just living apart. When they do find the missing girl, is she family, friend or foe?
This is a clever, atmospheric and exploitive supernatural drama. The cast also features Nicole Dambro, Taylor Flowers, William Kircher and a small role for director/writer Nicolas Woods.