My Review of Saw II (2005)

 

Written by Leigh Whannell And Darren Lynn Bousman

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman

John: "Those who don't appreciate life do not deserve life."

Eric: "My son appreciates his life."

John: "But do you appreciate yours? Do you appreciate your son's?"

And I'm on to the first of many sequels for this franchise. If the first movie kept it reasonably simple, then this was the beginning of making this incredibly complicated going forward.

First of all, there's the prominence of John Kramer (Tobin Bell) aka Jigsaw Killer himself. After the brief screen time he had in the first movie, he's a far bigger threat this time around. Oh and he's got cancer, so threatening his life won't do shit to get him to do the right thing.

That was something that corrupt Detective Eric Matthews (Donnie Wahlberg) had to find out the hard way. His sins caught up with him when his estranged son, Daniel (Eric Knudsen) was one of many unfortunate people caught up in Jigsaw's second round of torturous games.

Let's look at the batch of victims themselves. There's Daniel and a returning Amanda (Shawnee Smith) being dragged into this mess but they're also joined by Addison (Emmanuelle Vaugier), Laura (Beverley Mitchell), Xavier (Franky G), Jonas (Glenn Plummer), Obi (Timothy Burd) and Gus (Tony Nappo). They're all nearly cannon fodder.

To be fair, they're all people mostly linked with crime and put through the usual tests that fitted their flaws. The emphasis was largely on Amanda and Daniel. Both of them made it out of the movie alive. The not so shocking reveal though was Amanda actually working with John all along.

It's heavily telegraphed in the movie that Amanda viewed John as someone who saved her from herself, so it was fitting that she became his accomplice. Then there's Eric. He was largely a selfish character throughout and his fate ended on a cliffhanger to boot.

- Other characters of note in this movie included Alison Kerry (Dina Meyer), Rigg (Lyriq Bent) and Michael (Noam Jenkins). The latter was the opening kill.

- Billy the Puppet had a lot more screen time in this movie.

- Standout music: Marilyn Manson's Irresponsible Hate Anthem.

- Chronology: Not long after the events of the first movie.

I'll admit that Saw II made for a decent sequel. I think this movie helped to cement both John Kramer and Amanda as oddly sympathetic villain protagonists. Meanwhile, the actual protagonist Eric Matthews felt rather unsympathetic by comparison. Funny that.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Saw (2004)

 

Written by Leigh Whannell 

Directed by James Wan

John (to Adam): "Most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you, not anymore. GAME OVER!"

I've been iffy about this franchise. I don't hate it but it's definitely a franchise that wants to have it's cake and eat it. You've got a horror antagonist that seemed delight in abducting people and putting them through psychological warfare and have then killed in often sadistic ways.

However this first movie was more lower scale. Two men are trapped in a grotty room together with a dead body. The first man -  Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Lewes) was an inattentive husband and father to Alison (Monica Potter) and Diana (Makenzie Vega). This would come back to haunt him.

The second man named Adam (Leigh Whannell) seemed to be a mostly innocent guy but it turned out that he was spying on Lawrence's extracurricular activities. That put both men at odds and their mystery kidnapper Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) seemed to revel in testing their resolves while delving into their flaws.

For Lawrence there was the added dilemma of having both Alison and Diana being terrorised by Zep Hindle (Michael Emerson). It turned out the latter was being blackmailed by Jigsaw but fortunately Alison was able to save herself and Diana. If it were up to Lawrence, they wouldn't have made it out of the movie alive.

There's a lot of parts in this movie. You've got both Adam and Lawrence fighting for survival, Zep being as much as a victim as they are and the reveal of John Kramer as the real Jigsaw. I'll admit that was the best part of the movie along with hints of Kramer's backstory.

Another aspect of this movie involved detective duo David Tapp (Danny Glover) and Steven Sing (Ken Leung). Both men tried desperately to catch Jigsaw and save other victims. They didn't exactly succeed in either aspect and Sing himself ended up being another casualty. 

- This movie introduced us to Amanda (Shawnee Smith), a survivor of one of Jigsaw's previous games. Billy the Puppet appeared very briefly.

- This originally started life as a short movie and was even meant to film in Australia before budget reasons changed it to Los Angeles.

- Standout music: Pitbull Daycare's You Make Me Feel So Dead.

- Chronology: Present day in Los Angeles, including flashbacks for various characters.

The first Saw movie (maybe the first three) arguably was the strongest of the bunch. Later movies will over egg everything that made this ons work but for now, the psychological games and Jigsaw all worked pretty well. A strong debut.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: "Seven"

 

Written by Aziza Barnes And Annie Julia Wyman And Ira Parker

Directed by Sarah Adina Smith

Ser Duncan: "Who will stand and fight with me? Has courage deserted the nobles houses of Westeros? Are there no true knights among you?"

Ah, Ser Dunk. Talk about being damned either way. He went from punching out a spoiled Prince to fighting out that his squire was another prince and his life was also on the line. It was not his day/night throughout this episode.

Looking into the Egg or shall Prince Aegon Targaryen reveal. I can't say that I blame Dunk for taking it badly. I also don't blame him for accusing Egg of trying to make fun of him, even though the latter made it clear that he didn't intend any malice. Egg just really wanted to get away from his own family.

Egg's hatred for Aerion was made very apparent in this episode. He genuinely wanted to see his older brother dead and didn't care if Baelor disapproved of him saying it aloud. I also liked that when the chips were down, Egg maintained being Dunk's squire. Dunk kind of had no choice but to let him.

This episode further cemented how cruel and petty Aerion could be as a character. He couldn't simply let Dunk do trial by combat but insisted upon the trial by seven. He even managed to undermine Dunk's attempts to save himself by getting to Steffon. To be fair, I don't think it would've taken much to get Steffon to switch sides.

I guess what really elevated the episode was of course Baelor himself. Baelor has proven to be receptive to Dunk on the show and having him step in at the last minute to give Dunk the team he needed was a nice moment to cheer things on. I don't think Aerion will be pleased with more family members making their hatred for him publicly known.

As for Daeron, I think this episode made him a bit more tragic. Like other Targaryens, Daeron admitted to having prophetic dreams and even apologised for making things worse for Dunk. In a few scenes, I've grown to like his character.

- Aerion genuinely believes that he's a dragon in human form and he killed Egg's cat while threatening to castrate him. 

- Tanselle fled the scene  while Lyonel knighted Raymun to replace Steffon. I like that Raymun has become a good friend of Dunk's.

- This episode along with the latest one from Industry were released on HBO Max due to tonight's Super Bowl.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Seven was easily the best episode so far. A fantastic character study into everyone, but especially Dunk. A fantastic use of the Game Of Thrones/House Of The Dragon theme music and those last few minutes were sublime. This show really found it's groove.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Shell (2024)

 

Written by Jack Stanley

Directed by Max Minghella

Samantha: "I guess I just wanted you to look at me and see someone else."

If the idea of ageing actress resorting to an experimental beauty with dire consequences hadn't been explored enough in The Substance, then there's Shell. While former was in theatres, this one was doing the festival circuit. Does it work as an idea? I'd say yes it did.

The actress in question was Samantha Lake (Elisabeth Moss). She was known for a cheesy but feel good sitcom but the acting roles have dried up. Even when Samantha auditioned for a role that was suited to her, she lost out to the much younger Chloe Benson (Kaia Gerber). Chloe was a girl that Samantha used to babysit for back in the day.

Anyways Samantha's desperation to revive her acting career put her in the cross hairs of Dr. Hubert (Arian Moayed). He worked for Shell, which was founded by Zoe Shannon (Kate Hudson). Samantha underwent the procedure and ended up making friends with Zoe. On top of that, she also booked an acting gig. Things were looking up for her.

However if you've watched The Substance and Death Becomes Her, you'll know there's a downside to those type of rejuvenations. Samantha kept getting these grotesque black moles on her skin and Chloe's disappearance quickly alerted Samantha to the dangers of Shell.

There's a point in the movie made about Samantha being too trusting. It's evident in the way that it took very little for Zoe to get her on side. It's also something that Zoe had no problem throwing back at Samantha when she didn't need to pretend to be nice.

Anyways, the cops/FBI were under Shell's payroll, Dr. Hubert helped Samantha stabilise her condition but was still untrustworthy, Chloe turned into some hideously monster that was darkly lit and Zoe got her just desserts. The ending was a bit happier for Samantha compared to the other movies I've mentioned in this review.

- Elisabeth Moss and Max Minghella (the director) worked together on The Handmaid's Tale (2017-2025).

- Elizabeth Berkley popped up at the start of the movie as Jenna Janero. It didn't end well for her.

- Standout music: Connie Francis's Young At Heart.

- Chronology: Present day Los Angeles. Samantha write a book about her experience months after the events of the movie.

Shell had some interesting enough ideas that were executed well enough but at the same time, I think they could've pushed them better. I'll give both Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson their due as I think they did well with their respective roles.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Possession (1981)

 

Written by Andrzej Żuławski And Frederic Tuten

Directed by Andrzej Żuławski

Anna: "Goodness is only some kind of reflection upon evil. That's all it is."

With a remake of this movie on the horizon, it was definitely time to see what the fuss was about the original. A movie that wasn't a commercial success upon it's initial release but gained cult status over the years.

To start off with, this doesn't feel like a traditional horror movie about the nature of possession. For the most part, it's very much a kitchen sink drama with a small dose of espionage talk in the mix but even the latter bit felt somewhat muted until the last few minutes of the film.

The focus was on separating couple Mark (Sam Neill) and his dissatisfied wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani). Their whole relationship was an exercise in pure destruction to watch. If they weren't screaming at each other in nearly every scene together, both of them were physically assaulting each other to boot. It's a bit exhausting at times.

On top of that, they've got a son named Bob (Michael Hogben) that neither make an effort to look after or reassure during their volatile outbursts. Although Mark did try to fight for custody of Bob early in the movie. Also, there was the matter of adultery itself and how it factored into both Mark and Anna's actions.

Mark started an affair with Bob's teacher, Helen. Helen looked exactly like Anna and was even played by the same actor. Anna was also sleeping with Heinrich (Heinz Bennent) but oddly enough, his best scenes were with Mark rather than Anna. Oh and he was eventually killed by Mark.

As for the possession itself, it was a creature driving both Mark and Anna (the latter moreso) into absolute madness. The creature eventually became Mark's doppelganger and by the end of the movie, the volatile couple were no more. In fact, the movie ended on a rather horrifying note.

- The upcoming US remake will be directed by Parker Finn and produced by Robert Pattinson. A Malaysian remake came out in 2024.

- There's a character called Man with Pink Socks, played by Maximilian Rüthlein. I think that's a neat name for a character.

- This film was actually banned in the UK until 1999 and was written while the director was going through a divorce.

- Chronology: 1970s West Berlin for the duration of the movie.

Possession (1981) was something of a wild movie. I don't think I love it but I couldn't keep my eyes off it either. It's such a fascinating look into an absolutely destructive pairing with a very bleak ending. It's definitely a movie that'll stick with you.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Beauty: "Beautiful Billionaires"

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Matthew Hodgson 

Directed by Alexis Martin Woodall 

Byron (to other billionaires): "Let's get poked."

Who had Vincent D'Onofrio transform into Ashton Kutcher on their bingo card? I didn't but it made sense for such a transformation to have happened. We knew Byron was one of the early candidates for the Beauty.

It was also less of a shocker that other billionaires were roped into Dr Ray's experiment as well. We got to briefly meet Byron's contemporaries Axel Zufo (Peter Gallagher), Waylon Lemming (Billy Eichner), Roland Wylde (David Pittu) and Kitty Munson (Julie Halston). I say briefly because it didn't end well for them.

All of these billionaires took the poke. All of them suddenly became a lot younger but only Byron lived to tell the tale. Why did Byron survive and not the others? Oh, because Byron killed all the other billionaires. Byron's a man who didn't want to share.

I mean he's been pretty vile so far on the show. His lack of concern over his son alienated his wife, Franny. He's also been cheating on her and called her bluff when she wanted to burn everything down. Surely, Franny's going to kill Byron before the season ends, right?

Then there's Cooper and Jordan. It didn't take too long for Jordan to convince Cooper who she was or to fill in the gaps since the last time they saw each other. I'll give Jessica Alexander her due because she's doing a great job matching Rebecca Hall's performance but I still miss the latter as well. Cooper also made the sensible decision to not sleep with Jordan for the time being.

As for The Assassin and Jeremy, well they spent the episode hunting Nate (Matthew Laureano). Eventually they caught up with him. Under Byron's instructions, Nate's corpse was left in Cooper's apartment with that symbol smeared on the wall. I'm not sure why Byron thought that was a bright idea.

- The other billionaires made their money through mining/fossil fuels, cryptocurrency, banking and multinational retail.

- Byron referenced having two sons. Tig is played by Ray Nicholson. Jordan had dodgy contacts get her back into the US.

- Standout music: Christopher Cross's Ride Like The Wind. The Assassin really did convert Jeremy into a fan.

- Chronology: Byron has been transformed for the last few years. Half the episode was his villain origin story.

Beautiful Billionaires filled in some needed blanks about the origin of the Beauty itself. Yup, Byron's horrible as hell and definitely needs to get one massive comeuppance. I would've liked more of Cooper/Jordan but there's always next week.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Send Help (2026)

 

Written by Damian Shannon And Mark Swift

Directed by Sam Raimi

Linda (to Bradley): "Do you ever hunt? I think I like it."

My second 2026 movie fortunately turned out to be a much better choice, albeit in the same genre. Yes, it's a horror but also a comedy and maybe one of the best movies released so far this year.

Let's take a work trip and throw them on to an island. It'll be like Survivor but with a comedic horror twist. It's also got two people who actively hate each others guts but they're forced to work together in order to survive being stranded on an island together.

The two people being put upon corporate strategist, Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) and new CEO Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien). The latter's absolute contempt for the former would be his eventual undoing. If there was an employee to antagonise, Linda was the wrong one to go up against.

Bring stranded on the island and a shameless Survivor fan girl, Linda seemed a lot more adept of knowing her surroundings (including poisons) and generally fending for herself. She was also far too good at hunting boar as well. Bradley by contract was useless at the most basic skills to survive.

Another thing that Bradley was useless at was trying to poison Linda and making a boat of his own. There's a scene that echoed Misery in which Linda made it clear to Bradley that her kindness wasn't to be mistaken for weakness. Bradley should've paid more attention to that warning.

Of course as the movie went along, it became clear that Linda was deliberately keeping hervand Bradley away from help. She even killed Bradley's well meaning fiancée Zuri (Edyll Ismail). That poor woman was actually trying to help save them. The final confrontation between Linda and Bradley was brilliant. Both of them showed their absolute worst qualities and only one of them could come out on top. The one who did wasn't surprising.

- Linda had a husband that Bradley accused her of killing. She also had a cockatiel.

- Other cast members in this movie included Dennis Haysbert, Xavier Samuel and even Bruce Campbell (long time collaborator of Sam Raimi) had a photograph appearance.

- Standout music: Blondie's One Way Or Another.

- Chronology: A year passed by the end of the movie.

Fair play to Sam Raimi because he absolutely nailed it with Send Help. I really thought this was a riot. Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien were absolutely brilliant from start to finish. Some genuinely horrifying moments and some really funny ones as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10