John Morris

I watched the Babadook and then this film back to back (Halloween tonight!). How on earth audiences have given this a higher overall score than the Babadook is beyond me... OK, so they're very different kinds of horror. This isn't the psychological, tense and character driven horror of the Babadook. It's action / thriller, with a bit of gore and horror trim to it. Even considering this, the Crazies didn't succeed in being a serious film for me. Its quite fun and has one or two slightly chilling moments (actually one significantly chilling scene), but is generally more about drama and spectacle. In a daft way too. The main characters have tons of stupid plot armour, a few scenes play out in a laughable way (almost intentionally funny?). The acting is pretty decent though, and did help hold the film together (especially as the characters have no depth). Overall, an entertaining but pretty low quality, generic action horror. The purge with zombies.

This is a film that got under my skin; not so much for the monster (which is effectively scary in itself), but for the psychological horror that envelopes the lives of the mother and child. It's such a sad and depressing watch (in an effective and not bad way), with an underlying feeling of dread mixed in. I cared what happened to the mother and son, because of how well their relationship was written and acted. The film is really well edited and shot too. Constant changes in camera angles add to the feeling of psychological discomfort and tension, as does the house itself, with its scruffy interiors and drab decor and walls. It takes a while to really get going, but is one of the most intelligent and well written horror films of recent years overall. Borderline 5 stars.

A hugely underrated and under-mentioned shark attack film, that's not too far behind Jaws in it's execution. The characters and their relationships work, the events play out effectively and are horrifying, and the usage of real shark footage and point of view camera angles make this a scary and gripping watch. The ending is a little weak, but otherwise, I have nothing but praise for this film. Second only to the first Jaws film, in terms of shark horror.

I really wanted to love this film, because I felt it was an honest attempt at delivering a stylish, disturbing and original horror film. In places, it does deliver those things. What didn't work for me was the characters. The fact that they were mostly cocky and dumb teenagers, gave this film a strange vibe; Like it was trying to be a Hereditary / Ouija crossover, but with the irritating shallowness of the characters watering down the experience. Mia is the only character with any real depth in the film, and the others seemed to change their personalities and opinions towards each other on a whim, just to suit the plot. While many of them are reasonably well acted (Mia being the standout performance), there are a few generic and bland performances in there too. In short, an interesting film that executes some of its ideas well, has some good twists, but is brought down to earth by poorly written characters and lack of real emotional impact.

Certainly worth going to see, if you're an avid Alien film fan. Visually, it's a stunning film too, and the sound effects certainly create a few jump scares in themselves (at the cinema anyway). In terms of the characters, they're interesting on the surface and serve their purpose, but are generally not very deep emotionally and have little back story. Sadly perhaps the least interesting character turns out the be the protagonist, and she turns out to be Ripley mark two, but without being interesting. The plot is good enough, but falls into the area of typical alien film tropes in its last third, followed by a wacky and poorly thought out final action sequence. In summary; Mostly entertaining and well executed in it's first two thirds, but falls flat after that.

The film sets it's standard and blueprint out in the first five minutes and doesn't really deviate from it. A few amusing visual jokes and quips, delivered by slightly unbelievable and typical rom com stereotype characters. The main male character comes across as fairly plankish and bland and the female lead (although often displaying some decent acting ability) plays a haphazard and often unlikeable young woman. Unlike some rom coms, this does seem to have some potential to it, but unfortunately it never quite gets realised. When the jokes click, they're actually quite funny and you even empathise with the characters at times, but the film also drags on and becomes increasingly boring and bland as it goes on.

The first few minutes and scenes of Robert are really not too bad and almost lulled me into a false sense of security. They effectively introduce the main characters and build a sense of unease and tension. The main problems with the film start once the supposed action and intrigue begins. Robert is an incredibly one dimensional villain, who just gets up (when the main characters backs are turned) and runs amok, causing mischief and killing anyone who annoys him. The special effects in themselves are virtually non existant, with brief shots of roberts moving feet, or just his head, as he moves in for the kill. Surely if they could afford a decent house as a film set, they could have afforded better effects? The main actors are expressive, but boring and at times just annoying and over dramatic. The female lead being the prime example of this. Her melodramatic ans mosquito toned buzz of a voice becomes particularly grating. Meanwhile the male lead looks half asleep throughout the film. Prior to viewing, I didn't think this film could be any worse than Annabelle, but it manages to be a more boring and indeed a poor man's version of it. Best to stick to chucky or one of the annabelle sequels, if you want better doll related horror capers.

Admittedly I've never watched a full episode of this show, just caught extended scenes of it, via my parents tuning into it. I think I've seen enough to give a basic review though... It's just a very bog standard and laughter free comedy; Full of predictable and obvious jokes, boring characters and uninteresting scenarios. It might please older viewers who were into last of the summer wine, but if you want something clever and interesting, look elsewhere.

One or two questionable casting choices and a not quite as gripping storyline as in the previous two films, doesn't stop this film being from being a pretty good gangster flick. Gritty and bloody in places, this film is certainly not as big a let down as some critics make it out to be. A not brilliant, but worthy finale to the trilogy.