Incredible looking and lots of fun from start to finish with a ‘misfit gang save the universe’ comic book plot. A strong cast, funny dialogue and enough thrills and action for everyone. This sits easily at the top of the Marvel movie list! Fab! 🙂
Locked In (AKA Monolith) (2016, dir. Ivan Silvestrini)
A mother and son are stranded in the desert in a hi-tech car. Well-shot but narratively thin, this simplistic thriller struggles to make the most of its Knight Rider meets Cujo premise, settling for the odd striking image over plausibility.
Don’t Hang Up (2016, Dir: Damien Macé, Alexis Wajsbrot)
Prank call sparks revenge! At times visually interesting and tense but also filled with annoying actors. More thrills than horror, but at times this pulls off some good ideas. It probably borrrows too much from Scream. Still, it passed some time 😐
The Darkness (2016, dir. Greg McLean)
A dysfunctional family comes under attack from ancient demons. Standard Blumhouse jump-scare oooga-booga with a clear debt to Poltergeist, though enlivened by a strong cast (Bacon, Mitchell, Reiser) and confident direction from Wolf Creek’s Greg McLean.
Imperium (2016, dir. Daniel Ragussis)
A nerdy FBI agent goes undercover to thwart a fascist domestic terrorism plot. Standard will-he-get-found-out scenes and some clumsy storytelling mar this otherwise proficient thriller, which takes some time to explore a spectrum of neo-Nazi subcultures.
Big Hero 6 (2014, dir. Don Hall & Chris Williams)
A boy genius – and his personal care robot – battle the supervillain who’s stolen his invention. Slick, straightforward, and gorgeous to look at, this manga-influenced Disney ‘toon is a linear but fun ride, with some effective emotional moments.
The Greasy Strangler (2016, dir. Jim Hosking)
A man starts to think his live-in disco-loving father is The Greasy Strangler. Almost too-deliberately cultish, this is nevertheless funny and weird with bags of chutzpah, deliberately lo-fi gore, plenty of WTF moments, and a clear visual sensibility.
