Unhinged (2020) - Movie Review

A B-movie thriller all about how little of an excuse some people need to completely go off the deep end and hurt others. Not sure who exactly thought this was the ideal feature to bring out in the middle of epidemic lockdown, a time when the distinction between selfishness and actually giving a fuck about other people is getting sharper by the day, but… have to admit, I’m a bit torn on whether this was the best idea or the worst idea in cinemas right now.

Playmobil: The Movie (2019) - Movie Review

One of the main things that keeps me going whenever I’m covering less-than-ideal features on this blog is the notion that, regardless of anything else, bad movies tend to give me plenty of material to write about. No matter how unpleasant a film may be to sit through in the moment, there’s always the chance for written catharsis afterwards. However, there is such a thing as giving me too much material. I mean, this is a family film made to cash in on the success of the LEGO movies, itself based on a counterpart to the LEGO toy system. I get the feeling that any remarks I have about how cheap this thing is will only be playing into the obvious, but trust me, there’s a whole lot else that’s wrong with this thing.

Child's Play (2019) - Movie Review

As I’m sure is the case for most people who have seen this film, I was mainly looking forward to it because it has Mark Hamill in it. For someone so insanely talented at voice-acting, it still feels like he’s going unappreciated for his work, and he’s pretty much the only person I could see filling Brad Dourif’s shoes as everyone’s favourite psychotic toy. However, while he is definitely a good fit for Chucky as one would expect, he’s been thrown a bit of a curveball because this isn’t the Chucky you might remember.

Lights Out (2016) - Movie Review

When going into certain films, I make it a point of (usually) doing my research if it involves looking at previous relevant films. For instance, in preparation for my review of Ice Age 5, I will go back and watch the previous four so I have a better idea of what I’m getting myself into. Is it any surprise that I haven’t gotten to it yet, with that in mind? However, this is an extremely rare occasion where I have already done my background work without even realising that I had. Last year, when I went to go see It Follows (you know, that film that wasn’t exactly the Oscars), it was preceded by an ad-hoc horror short film festival. Among the titles shown, which ranged from the clever to the supremely strange, was a 3-minute short called Lights Out. I didn’t think much of it at the time, probably because the audience I saw it with at the time hadn’t shut up yet and thought we were in an interactive screening, but apparently someone else did. RatPac-Dune, a production company that seems to be competing with Blumhouse for the most ubiquitous film producers of the era, picked it up and turned it into a full-fledged production. Did this film deserve such treatment, and is it capable of existing beyond its smaller origins?