Possession Media

A gaggle of mercenaries must encounter the Prince of Darkness upon the final frontier, and fight a cruel battle for survival against the undead threat upon them. 

One thing I really like about this film is the beginning. Every protagonist is introduced in a fairly comprehensive display, with cartoon personalities so stereotypical and antithetical towards each other which kind of develops an interesting balance that promises entertainment. 

That’s the first 5 minutes. The next hour is an unbelievably inept attempt at sci-fi horror with admittedly well made industrial sets and warm lighting, but such incredibly primitive attempts at story and acting that the whole endeavor would have been more productive if everything was crushed, melted down and put in a landfill. Including the actors. 

2/10

Some guys just want to get the bastard. That’s the deal when a cop loses his partner to a crook, falling into bribery, blackmail and violence, doing anything it takes in order to catch the bad guy. 

Everyone’s so tough as nails I need a chisel. The film appears to arrange the hierarchy of its characters based on how ruthless they can be. Sex, drugs, and guns are free as children, and there is a relentless momentum of catastrophe as the cops resort to increasingly drastic measures and abuse of power in order to try and catch the bad guy. 

Although perhaps a little too masochistic and narcissistic at times, the breakneck pace and speed of the story is challenging and absorbing, with both the criminal and cop competing to commit the most evil – while trying to avoid being caught.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Live_and_Die_in_L.A._(film)

Rating: 7/10

A renegade shock jock must hear the screams of murder as a brutal zombie infection takes over the city in this uninspired and forgettable thriller. 

Although Dead Air is playful and whimsical to begin with, and a sense of dread and desperation looms as the plague takes over, the film quickly descends into tedium as it becomes apparent that most of it takes place in the studio, leaving little adventure to chew on. Action is brief, scenes are stretched out far too long, performances are wacky at best and the lack of visual material leaves you wondering if a shorter film or even an audio-only production would have been a better arrangement.

And its attempt to critically investigate the political and ethical matter of terrorism in media leave much to be desired. Despite Bill Moseley’s fearsome big-balls attitude, Dead Air’s conclusions are timid and nervous when tackling the impact of shock media in society, especially when it comes to the role of the government. What a shame, because it’s such a good subject: the area of shocking events and our media’s presentation of them is arguably a force of glorification, which the movie completely overlooks, preferring to sit on the fence and cling onto the safe conclusions which media companies have decided themselves. 

Rating: 3/10

Going in raw with the expectation of a energetic horror, this turned out to be nothing more than a dull, shallow teen slasher, with a disappointing lack of slashing.

This is an 80’s adventure about a mad scientist attempting to take control of USA using TV. Not like there isn’t a reality of that already, and it’s a pretty interesting subject matter to explore – propaganda in media is powerful and contentious issue. The Brain makes no serious attempt in this discussion however, resorting to cheap thrills and even cheaper props to carry itself.

The introduction is pretty cool, I thought – nicely co-ordinated and well presented, so it was tough to see the rest of the flick fall into tedium. There’s a good decaptiation of a policeman later on though. And the blonde is a nice piece of ass.

Rating: 3/10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_(1988_film)

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/

As a filmgoer, rudimentary day-to-day politics is something you try to avoid. Someone with a lot of money thought: why not make a politically charged film out of its most contentious issues?

Get Out is one of the few movies you get everything you never wanted in one big 2 hour feature. Appalling acting, stupid plot, and despicable suggestions of casual racism underlining every discussion. Daniel Kaluuya’s humdrum and unemotional performance is awful, Allison Williams is equally ridiculous in her role, and the story remains stubbornly racial to the very end.

The directing is bad enough, but Get Out veers too closely to propaganda to be taken seriously; the political machines in its characters and tools are very plain. I’d spend another 3 paragraphs articulating, but most reasonable people would already know.

Rating: 2/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/

This has been on my list for a while, mostly due to the cast and interesting theme. Sci-fi horror in the ocean which is probably to do with aliens… at least that should be easy to do. Right? 

Jesus, what a wreck! The messy and drama-fueled story is the polar opposite to the precision and accuracy that sci-fi needs to be, and the bombastic scripting ensures every character appears arrogant, narcissistic and unlikable. Divided into “chapters”, for reasons never revealed, the plot remains feckless and whimsical, crashing into hullabaloo instead of emergency, and matters are not improved by the soundtrack, which insists on trumpets and horns screeching every time a fish swims across the screen.

Just to compound the misery, it’s over 2 hours long; its few merits are stretched skeletal-thin over such a long feature. The only thing consistent in the film is Sharon Stone’s haircut and a desire to facefuck her wearing that stupid blazer. 

Rating: 2/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120184/

This interesting horror follows the group of four friends who decide to take a trip out into the forest, become hopelessly lost, and slowly fall prey to an ancient evil. Spells, witchcraft, demonic entities, that kind of thing. 

Nothing really new, but Ritual stands out with its sleek cinematography and attentive directing. Performances are gritty and robust, and a menacing sense of depressive gloom pervades the atmosphere, which is more than supported by a very silky and dark minimalist soundtrack. 

The film also juggles with some good comic moments in its early minutes. But ironically, as it abandons the humor in the later half, it slowly becomes comedy, turning into absurd nonsense, losing its charm and all its hard work sadly unravels.

Rating: 5/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5638642/

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)

An unknown force is causing the apocalypse. Towns and cities are being destroyed by an unknown being. The only safe haven is a strange remote shack where several normal people find themselves together. Ravaged by their paranoia and fear, things can only get worse. 

And the synopsis is as good as it gets with this tiresome drama/mystery. Sloppy performances, undeveloped characters, and tedious scripting, “Huh? What are you saying?” quickly prove that the only mystery here is how long you are prepared to hold your attention.

Cynthia Gatlin does a somewhat workable job as the protagonist, and some of the dialogue occasionally shows seeds of promise, but the offensive lack of talent or ability quickly dispatches anything interesting. And what is with the constant weepy music played throughout the video? God make it stop!!

Rating: 2/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4333368/