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Reviews
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Rebel Moon - but good
Obviously Rebel Moon I & II are pretty much exactly this story, but this movie has characters, actual drama, and some excitement.
It is just a superior movie. Yes, obviously it has aged, as it was made in 1980, but it does more than enough with what it has to be exciting.
It was made to copy Star Wars (again, obviously), and the opening shot is just A New Hope with another ship, but that sort of homage is to be expected.
I enjoyed this movie, and with its star-studded cast portraying interesting characters it is a fun ride.
I wholly recommend this movie to sci-fi fans everywhere, and if you found Rebel Moon a bit sad then this is the pick-me-up you need!
Demons at Dawn (2022)
This is not worth the 8s and 10s
Again, this is a movie that lives off its FEW reviews, hiking the numbers up. It is clearly not a 5.8 (at the time of writing) and will continue to go down.
It is a passable movie in all respect, but there are choices in directing, design and writing that puts it just under "ok".
You can tell that this was a passion project for many of those involved, but to call it a "masterpiece" is to give it too much credit.
Th effectwork is plugin-based and the makeup is... I mean, it is interesting, but certainly nothing to write home about.
You can safely give this one a miss, as it is nothing much.
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
So much better than it deserved to be
For being a throw-away line in the book this story is both engaging and true to the spirit of the hook of the story.
The characters are relatable and human, making the same kind of decisions you might expect from people under such extreme conditions. These are not camp or ridiculous contrivances, but fully relatable people. Liberties have been taken to make the characters work in a story like this, but it works really well.
The creature is very nice, and I enjoyed it whenever it was on screen.
The inclusion of Liam is great, he does an amazing job with the role, and you find him believable throughout.
This is a genuinely enjoyable watch, and I am happy to have seen it.
Grave Encounters (2011)
This is just lovely!
The idea of locations being the antagonists (House on Haunted Hill springs to mind) is always hit-or-miss, and this one hits it. It hits it hard.
The movie works wonders with its location, the interplay between the characters on camera and 'off', and once the spooky things start happening it is done in a way that does not burn all the good stuff and gets repetitive, but instead builds on previous hints and 'behind you'-shots until you are jumping at shadows.
The acting is solid, the cinematography great, the directing on point and while some of the effects are a tad bit cheesy, this is a great horrormovie I keep going back to over and over.
Grave Encounters 2 (2012)
This is not a bad followup.
Obviously this is not as innovative as the first one, but the premise of this is a natural progression from the first. It has a few lovely twists, which keeps the idea fresh, but it is not enough to elevate it to a higher status.
The idea of revisiting the site of an older movie like this is pretty fun though, and allows the filmmakers to not wear the ideas of the original premise too thin, but instead focus on the journey the protagonists have to undertake in order to reach the 'start' of the spooky stuff.
The acting is sometimes a bit forced, but that could be down to the directing, but overall I think they do a fine job for what it is.
Shadow in the Cloud (2020)
There's something on the wing!
As a long-standing fan of the Twilight Zone, it is always refreshing to see a movie-take on one of classic stories. We have of course had The Truman show, The Box and the Sound of Thunder, but this one takes on Nightmare at 20,000 Feet from 1963, which has had its own remakes in the different series, starring different people, but to expand the narrative and make it into a movie is fun.
To then lock the main protagonist in a box for an hour and only have the other actors participate over radio must have saved a LOT of production time and money, and works great thematically, giving that claustrophobic feel.
The badguy is great, not over-the-top but just the right kind of menacing, and the secondary antagonists are incredibly violent, which is what life in a plane over the Pacific during this time was like.
Overall - this is a solid movie, well worth a watch, and especially if you are a war-buff or Twilight-Zone aficionado.
Murdercise (2023)
The perfect kind of bad
I mean, this is bad. It is lovely, but it is just a homage to 80s slashers in the most terrible way.
It raised $50k or something on crowdfunding platforms, with cameos from some patrons.
The characters are obviously one-dimensional, the plot ludicrous, the soundtrack a lovely 80's tribute with no 80s songs, and on and on it goes.
Some of the actresses are over-acting in the best possible way, and it is certainly charming, but let's not pretend this is a cinematic masterpiece. It is what it is. It does what it is supposed to do, but it cannot escape what it is.
If you liked 80s slashers, especially the low-budget ones, this is for you. For anyone else - you could spend your time more wisely.
Haunting of the Queen Mary (2023)
Pretty, but a mess
While I appreciate the effort here, and it is a stunning visual, it is a bit of a mess. It does not engage with its broken timeline and lackluster characters, the timeskips break tension rather than build it, and there is a lack of relatability and stakes.
I was hoping for more, given that there are so many '10's, but I have a sneaking suspicion that those are crew and friends. This is clearly not a ten. You can tell that those reviews are probably planted, as they call for the audience to "pay attention" or you "miss it". If your storytelling is so jumbled that the audience cannot follow the story, then you are doing something wrong. Telling the audience to 'pay attention' is a cop-out. You should engage them, and they will do it without being told to.
Pretty, but not engaging, and certainly not scary.