Category: 4/10

Thrill-seeking teen (that should be obvious) takes on society in this racy and hormone-pumped yarn about a rich kid who can’t seem to stay out of trouble no matter how much money their family throws at the problem.

Morgan is a young man with a bright future but threatened with an attraction to the wild side. Moved away to begin a new start, he instantly attracts attention when he crosses a bunch of thugs, and his relationship with them doesn’t improve when he tries to steal the leaders’ girl. He gets punched in the balls for that.

This is pretty routine 80’s material designed specifically for young adults of the decade, along with its fairly predictable themes of rebellion against strict authority and glorification of adolescence. The territory stays on naturally safe terms; nobody dies or loses their limbs, the winner gets the girl, and most scenes generally include graffiti, leather jackets, cars, wild dresses, miniskirts, sunglasses – you get the idea.

Its obsession with fashion makes it for limited viewing, but at least it brings some cracking tunes! There’s a great selection of rock ‘n’ roll, disco, and funk, and even a few dance numbers which all help to keep a positive mood and energetic pace. It really blends in well with the free-spirited and carefree attitude of the troubled teens who have enough trouble facing adversery in their youth.

4/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090213/

A gang of rebellious students, feeling thwarted by the dominating personality of one of their teachers, decide to try and get their own back, leading to mayhem, violence, and big tits in your face every 20 minutes.

This is a fairly basic and fun slasher with a refreshing amount of gore and chaos. The free-spirited teen protagonists are liberated from any sense of accomplishment in life and have an enjoyably nihilistic outlook, so there’s no timewasting complicated story to unravel; it’s just straight up brainless horror. The soundtrack does a fine job of supplementing each scene, ranging from gloom to excitable shrieking, so that’s another bonus. 

Generally unremarkable, what struck out to me most was learning how lead actor Christopher Stryker died at 27. What a sad age to pass with so many years ahead. And also naming a character “Jon-Jon” – something else I can’t forgive.

Rating: 4/10

This formidable poster with its prominent rorschach print would lead any viewer to think this is one to exploit a phobia about evil bugs. Terrible termites. Rampaging roaches. Fucking flies. Flies are such a pain in the ass.

Bug is completely about people, however, and the vast majority of the film is purely theatrical. There is barely anything in the way of action scenes or car crashes; most of the film is discussion, consisting of two tragic personalities and their ever-deteriorating descent in to what can only be described as a shared delusion.

The acting is outstanding. These actors are real professionals, and they launch into a dazzling arsenal of heartbreak, fury, fear and passion. The script is intricately contentious, and the talent alone is stunning and worth a watch just for the performance. 

But for such strong messages in so contentious territory, there’s a serious disappointment with the lack of graphical communication. Icons are static. Settings are glued. The lack of visual experimentation is offensively disappointing, leading to ultimately a dull movie; leaving behind forever the more fearful impression it could have bitten.

Rating: 4/10

Mundane at first, Bilocations grows as it performs with its careful direction, interesting ideas and compelling mystery. Sadly, they’re stretched out very thinly, become too convoluted and fail to deliver in this unimpressive mystery/thriller about ghostly doppelgängers.

We’re introduced to a host of stereotypical characters – a housewife, a cop, a student, a rich guy, and a unnecessary secretive guy – all facing the curse of “doubles” called Bilocations. These beings automatically seek to inflict chaos and destruction on the lives of their real counterparts. 

Questionably complex, with a habit of performing plot twists that hadn’t satisfied a reason to be revealed in the first place, Bilocations is stretched out way too long to justify its 2 hours. Its curious arrangement of events and insistence on romance is suspiciously episodic, suggesting that a TV drama or series of comic books was likely, and would have been better, as its original form.

Rating: 4/10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilocation_(film)

Little more than an imitation a popular movie with a similar name, released at a similar time, I Am Omega is a fairly dull survival thriller which serves its entertainment competently, but has been done a hundred times before and better. 

The beginning is fairly decent, concentrating much on the mental hardship of daily isolation and confusion in the face of being a post-zombie plague survivor, and does a halfway job of appreciating the strain this has on the protagonists’ humanity. Renchard’s journey to salvation is determined but harsh and as per the theme his enemies include other humans as well as the undead (or whatever they are this time).

Although laudably predictable, nothing strikes out as offensively bad, and there’s a half decent amount of work with the set design, makeup, props and so on – not bad considering the film’s tiny budget. Predictable, but watchable.

Rating: 4/10 

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_am_omega?

Mental hospitals usually make for run-of-the-mill thrillers, and Unsane is no exception. Its low budget, poor cinematography, overacting performances and general lack of suspense make it pretty bland.

Still, the trapping of Sawyer (Claire Foy) in an institution is disturbing enough to warrant a watch; her character is helpless enough to encourage a little empathy. If anything, it nails the indifference and pompousness of the medical industry, and mostly avoids relying on stereotypes on the subject matter, which is in itself commendable. 

One scene in particular – hidden away at the 49 minute mark – is a remarkable sequence where Foy navigates a room facing simultaneously towards and away the camera in a drug-induced psychosis, while a loud sound collage plays. It’s surprisingly well done, and suggestive that there could have been more experimentation. 

Rating: 4/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7153766/

Found footage style horror is a tough medium to get right. Even though the whole idea is to create a super-realistic environment, it usually comes off to me as too unconvincing or scripted to take seriously.

Afflicted doesn’t do a bad job though. Although the acting is goofy and the plot quickly becomes tiresome, and there’s enough unpredictable twists and turns for it to be generally watchable. Unfortunately there are just too many descents into farce, an overactive sense of editing, and of course the ridiculous jump scares. This is found footage – why even HAVE editing and jump scares?

What stood out to me though was the balanced application of special effects. The long action scenes were nicely done, especially the one in the basement – the sequence of the protagonist beating away riot cops as if they were little more than flies was impressively morbid and powerful. Now if only there had been a little more of that!

Rating: 4/10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afflicted_(film)

It’s the future. The earth’s surface has been destroyed by war. The survivors live in underground cities, where anarchy thrives, and violent neo-religious cults compete for power. Dakota, an ex-cop assassin, must fight to survive in this terrible world with his new friends. 

This trash sci-fi thriller is a lot of fun – martial arts, stripper tits, and futuristic boxcar shootouts. Virtually every scene is drenched in melancholic lighting and nearly everyone is wearing some kind of bizarre leather outfit. More interesting (and never really explored) is the dismal face of humanity in the underworld. With law and order gone, freaks are left to run amok, leaving a general sense of despondency, which is the perfect atmosphere for this story. 

Roddy Piper is another bonus, who plays his part well as a mad religious despot. Sadly though, he’s probably the only actor in the film who can actually act. Howell does such an obscene job of playing Dakota that he almost destroys the film before it starts. A mad henchman plays a doable job, but that’s about it. Everyone else is barely tolerable. If only they casted Ruter Hauer instead.

Rating: 4/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159752/