Thriller
The Black Demon Review
Hitting Australian cinemas a couple months shy of another anticipated Meg movie, The Black Demon falls short of mediocrity with a blend of pulpy mythological horror and environmental awareness. Directed by Adrian Grünberg (Rambo: Last Blood) and starring Josh Lucas (trading Red Dog for a Megalodon shark) The Black Demon tells the story of Paul Sturges (Lucas), who brings his family along for a wor...
Fast X Review
Vin Diesel seems to be the only one taking himself and this franchise way too seriously in the latest instalment of GI JOE cross xXx meets We’re The Millers. So strap in wheel heads, Vinny Diesel (Babylon AD) and his urban fashion conscious team of international intrigue and espionage are back with Fast X, the latest instalment of the aforementioned man’s tedious vanity project. To say that ...
Evil Dead Rise Review
2013 saw the release of Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead. At its time, a welcome remake of Sam Raimi’s original college film affair. With Raimi producing, Evil Dead 2013 dumped the playful, schlocky camp horror of the original beloved cult trilogy (or duology) of films in favour of a more intense horror experience and delivered in spades. This Thursday Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert along wit...
John Wick: Chapter 4 Review
The ever-explosive John Wick: Chapter 4 marks the fourth (appropriately named) instalment in the beloved action film franchise. With their finger on the trigger, Lionsgate is looking to keep the killstreak going, and are aiming for another solid win. This time our titular character – John Wick (Keanu Reeves) embarks on a treacherous journey to unveil a pathway towards vanquishing his nemesi...
Scream VI Review
The first Sidney Prescott-less Scream instalment re-locates the carnage to the Big Apple, cranks up the number of stab wounds, and revels in murder memorabilia in this satisfying entry in the long-running horror series that is proving hard to kill. Buckle in, there is some ground to cover. It’s a year after the Scream ’22 killing spree and survivors Sam (Melissa Barrera), her younger h...
Cocaine Bear Review
Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect 2) returns to the directing chair, four years after her less than stellar Charlie’s Angels reboot. This time, it’s to tell the (I can’t believe I’m typing this) true story of Cocaine Bear – a black bear who ingests pounds of cocaine in a national forest in Georgia, sending it on a hilariously drug-fueled, murderous rampage. I thought Cocaine Bear would ju...
Knock at the Cabin Review
On the big screen since February 2nd, Universal Pictures and M. Night Shyamalan (Signs, The Village) invites you to witness the apocalypse. Knock at the Cabin demands an hour and forty minutes of your time, perhaps as the credits roll you may wish it really was the end of the world. Based on Paul Tremblay’s 2018 novel The Cabin at the End of the World, the film takes a few liberties, becoming some...
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre Review
Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) writes, produces and directs Miramax’s latest action blockbuster – Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. The film stars Jason Statham as Orson Fortune; a top-level spy tasked with locating and preventing the distribution of a new highly dangerous weapons system, being sold by the wealthy arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). Despite his reluct...
M3GAN Review
Risking comparison to murderous doll flicks of yesteryear, M3gan swings gracefully on screen in January 2023 with mechanical grace and manic sass. Based on the promo material alone, one can be forgiven for passing the film off as a gender bent Chucky riff. This is a disservice. On viewing it is clear, director Gerard Johnstone, screenwriter Akela Cooper, producers James Wan and Jason Blum have cra...
Halloween Ends Review
Is Halloween Ends a return to form or does the film continue the downward spiral that began with Kills? It is both. There, I said it. Once again, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride subvert the tropes this iconic series founded, attempting to pull the franchise in a different direction. But much like Halloween Kills, Ends feels like a (not a Halloween) movie, within a Halloween movie. In the eyes...
Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon Review
From Ana Lily Amirpour, acclaimed director of a film about a dangerous girl who punishes bad people with her fangs, comes Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon, a film about a dangerous girl who punishes bad people with her mind. Starring Jeon Jong-seo as the eponymous heroine, Craig Robinson as the cop pursuing her and Kate Hudson as you’ve never seen her, this is a highly enjoyable neon-soaked romp that ...
The Stranger Review
Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris are not as they appear in Thomas M. Wright’s quietly terrifying sophomore feature, The Stranger. Based on one of the better-known true crimes of early 2000s Australia (and if you’ve managed to avoid the trailer or synopsis, the a-ha moment packs a subtle punch), the film follows two men and the apparent roles they play in an abduction and murder case that went unsolve...