My Review of Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)

  

Written by Derek Ford And Alan Birkinshaw

Directed by Edmund Purdom

Announcer: "A homicidal maniac is loose at Christmas. His target is Santa Claus. No one dressed as Santa Claus is safe."

A few weeks ago, I was looking for some Christmas horror and then I came across this British movie from forty years ago. Let's just say I wouldn't recommend this one to be honest.

Depending on how you feel about the Silent Night, Deadly Night series, you may struggle with this one. I definitely did. Anyways, killing Santa anyone? Because that's what you're getting with this one.

Yup, a guy dressed in a translucent mask goes through the streets of London during the festive period killing couples to begin with but when a man dressed as Santa got killed in a public setting, it gave the movie a protagonist of sorts with his daughter, Kate (Belinda Mayne).

Kate's got a shitty boyfriend named Cliff (Gerry Sundquist) and there's a plot involving a porn studio and a rival stripper named Sherry (Wendy Danvers). Sherry ended up being a captive of the killer while Cliff was seen as a suspect in the slew of murders taking place over the movie.

There's also Chief Inspector Harris (Edmund Purdom), desperately trying to solve the case while his younger brother Giles (Alan Lake) turned out to be the killer himself. His hatred for Santa does blatantly pull from that horror movie series I mentioned earlier but the brotherly dynamic between the Chief Inspector and the killer was rather poorly explored.

- Caroline Munro appears as herself while Purdom the director played the male hero of the piece.

- Nicholas Donnelly is credited as Dr Birdie but his scenes were deleted.

- The film took over a year to make with the amount of behind the scene disasters that befell it.

- Chronology: It's set during Christmas in London with flashbacks to the Christmas incident that triggered Giles's bloodlust.

I definitely wouldn't recommend Don't Open Till Christmas. It's pretty awful as a movie and it was certainly time that I could've used better myself. Honestly, don't bother with this one.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

My Review of Black Christmas (2019)

 

Written by Sophie Takal And April Wolf

Directed by Sophie Takal

Kris: "You messed with the wrong sisters."

You know the way sometimes the word "woke" can be weaponised as a negative for a piece of media that's usually more diverse? Yeah, I hate when that happens but every once on a while a piece of media somewhat warrants the negativity.

This reboot being one of them. We already got a surprisingly decent remake back in 2006, so was there a need for a version of this horror movie that seemed to be written for the 2010s Tumblr crowd? Apparently so.

Let's get on with this, shall we? To make this movie different but infinity far less interesting than 1974 or 2006, the 2019 version decided that Billy Lens wasn't a compelling enough antagonist to terrorise a bunch of sorority sisters. Nope, a misogynistic cult led by Professor Gelson (Cary Elwes) was the way to go here. That and some dead Hawthorne bloke and possessive goo from a bust.

It's as nonsensical as it sounded with the protagonists in questions being the least compelling ones we've had with this series. There was Riley (Imogen Poots), Kris (Aleyse Shannon), Marty (Lily Donoughue) and Jesse (Brittany O'Grady). Oh and token nice guy, Landon (Caleb Eberhardt).

Alongside Gelson as the ringleader, the frat guys also had the massively antagonistic Brian (Ryan McIntyre), who previously attacked Riley. About halfway through the movie, there's an awfully done sing song about Brian's rapey tendencies by the girls at a Christmas pageant.

Then there's Helena (Madeleine Adams). She's the "traitor" of the group, foolishly misled by the boys into subservience, only to be killed by them. Yeah, the entire film flatlines because the poor handled "men vs. women" commentary that previously didn't do and were ultimately better for not doing. 

- The Cult members were giving serious Ghostface vibes but nowhere near as interesting.

- There's a mid credit sequence with Claudette the cat that I'll admit was funny enough.

- Standout music: The Larks Christmas To New Year and Rose Graham Black Christmas.

- Chronology: 2019 Christmas time, with Hawthorne college being the main setting.

I'm going to be brutally, if I never watch this version of Black Christmas again, it'll be a godsend. The movie just straight up sucks, horribly handles it's message with most of the cast barely phoning it in. Just stick to the other versions and give this one a miss.

Rating: 3 out of 10 

My Review of The Lion King (2019)

 

Written by Jeff Nathanson

Directed by Jon Favreau

Simba: "My father once told me: protect everything the light touches, if I don't fight for it who will?"

Earlier this month, I wrote a long overdue review for the animated movie and with Mufasa: The Lion King coming out this week, it was finally time to actually watch this live action taken on the iconic 1994 movie.

I got to be honest, part of the reason why I held off watching this was down to the fact that it looked so bland and almost colourless from thr trailers. Gone was the vibrancy of the animated movie for this version.

As a movie, it's a bit too dull and muted and especially during scenes where the colour needed to pop. Like most live action adaptations, it largely stuck to what the original movie with a little bit of character expansion here and there.

Once again, Simba (Donald Glover/JD McCrary) was destined to succeed his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and once again, Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor) enlisted the help of hyenas Shenzi (Florence Kasumba), Kamari (Keegan-Michael Key) and Azizi (Eric Andre) to usurp both Mufasa and Simba as King of Pride Rock.

There's a bit more time spent on seeing Scar's ruling ruin the Pride Lands with both Sarabi (Alfre Woodard) and Nala (Beyonce Knowles-Carter/Shahadi Wright Joseph) determined to put a stop to Scar. Nala did so by actually reuniting with Simba, albeit she wasn't too thrilled with his friendship with both Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) and Timon (Billy Eichner).

As you can tell, the last act played out the same between Simba and Scar with a side battle of sorts between Nala and Shenzi to fill up the time. Add some choice moments with Zazu (John Oliver) and Rafiki (John Kani) throughout the movie and it's just a race to the finish line for this one.

- Some new characters included a guinea fowl, a bushbaby, an elephant shrew, and an impala but they had little to do.

- James Earl Jones was the only actor from the 1994 movie to reprise his role. Scar was a more scraggly but lighter coloured lion compared to his animated counterpart.

- Standout music: Same as the 1994 but not as good if I'm being honest.

- Chronology: An unspecified time in the Pride Lands of Tanzania.

I didn't hate this version of The Lion King but I'd be lying if I said I loved it. Compared to it's animated counterpart, it feels very bland by comparison, more than I thought it would. I was largely underwhelmed by it.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Little Women (1994)

 

Written by Robin Sword

Directed by Gillian Armstrong

Jo: "Now we are all family, as we always should have been."

In some ways, I think this almost qualifies as a Christmas movie, right? It's mostly set during a winter time period. Except for the moments it's not and that ending of course.

To my surprise, while this might have been the first adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott book of the same name that I watched, it's actually the third movie adaptation. Also probably still the most iconic one too.

The titular women in question were the March sisters. There was aspiring writer, Jo (Winona Ryder), tender Beth (Claire Danes), the responsible Meg (Trini Alvarado) and youngest Amy (Samantha Mathis/Kirsten Dunst). The movie largely examines their lives as they all head into adulthood along with the support of their mother, Marmee (Susan Sarandon).

During the movie, we see each of the women try to find their own way in the world. However for Beth, it's more of a tragic outcome as she largely succumbed to illness. Beth's eventual passing was a genuine gut punch in the movie.

As for the rest of the women, the presence of one Theodore "Laurie" Laurence (Christian Bale) impacted all of them. He was a potential suitor for Meg but was in love with Jo and she didn't reciprocate his feelings. However he ended up with Amy and even then, I found myself wondering if his feelings for her were true.

With Amy becoming the companion of Aunt March (Mary Wickes) and improving as an artist and Meg settling for a life with a nice husband in John Brooke (Eric Stoltz), it was Jo to have the adventures as a writer, find her voice as a creative and get a book published. There was even a romance with professor Friedrich Bhaer (Gabriel Byrne) that the movie does slightly speed through towards the end.

- This is the only adaptation to have two different actors for Amy. 

- There's a loose sequel of sorts called Little Men that came out in 1998.

- The closing credits had 19th century portraits of the March sisters, which was a nice touch. 

- Chronology: American Civil War based in Concord, Massachusetts. Lot of it during the winter with Christmas incorporated into the story.

Whether it counts as a Christmas movie or not, Little Women does make for something perfect to watch this time of year. It's a lovely story about sisters and the performances from everyone involved are top notch. 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Written by Jeffrey Price And Peter S. Seaman

Directed by Ron Howard

Cindy Lou: "Santa, what's the meaning of Christmas?"

The Grinch: "VENGEANCE! Er, I mean... presents, I suppose."

Now this was a movie I haven't watched in a very long time. I mean, it's really been a long time but with the month it is, this was something I wanted to catch up on again.

I remember having the book of this as a child and this live action adaptation was something I enjoyed back in the day. I'm also pleased that even now, it's held up pretty well with Jim Carrey giving quite the performance as the titular character.

What can be said about green kids being rejected? It certainly does a number on them psychologically. Even the Grinch's own parents didn't want him and his adopted mothers, Clair Nell (Mindy Sterling) and Rose Who (Rachel Winfree) couldn't do much to quell the Grinch's hatred of a certain time of year.

Add some flashbacks to a horrible school incident and a childhood crush not reciprocated and you have the Grinch taking his dislike for Christmas on everyone else. Then there was his meeting with Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen). She should've shown the Grinch the derision and fear everyone else at Whoville but she didn't.

Instead Cindy Lou was determined to get the Grinch to like Christmas once again and she wouldn't take no for an answer. Inviting the Grinch to the Holiday Cheermeister, there was childhood bully Mayor Augustus May Who (Jeffrey Tambor) proposing to the Grinch's childhood crush Martha May Whovier (Christine Baranski) to really set the Grinch.

Yes, with the grudging help of his dog, Max, the Grinch actually stole Christmas and came close to destroying the whole town's festive cheer until his conscience eventually won over. By the end of this movie, the Grinch got a lovely for Christmas, acceptance from the townspeople who rejected him and the love of his life. He really did have the best Christmas ever.

- Anthony Hopkins narrated the movie while Josh Ryan Evans played a younger version of the Grinch in flashbacks.

- This movie managed to get both Academy and Raspberry Award nominated. Fortunately, it won one nomination for the former and nothing for the latter.

- Standout music: Green Christmas, You're A Mean One Mr Grinch, Where Are You, Christmas? and Christmas, Why Can't I Find You?

- Chronology: The movie spanned many Christmases for the Grinch over Whoville and the cave he chose to live in.

Yeah, this was a fun nostalgia trip. How The Grinch Stole Christmas, it's a great live action adaptation of a classic Dr Seuss book and Jim Carrey gave a brilliant performance and looked great as the Grinch. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Black Christmas (2006)

 

Written And Directed by Glen Morgan

Billy: "She's my family now!"

Last week, I watched the original version of this movie from 1974 and last night, I watched the first remake/reboot from 2006. My expectations weren't exactly high but funnily enough, I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

Again, the villain would be Billy Lenz (Robert Mann/Cainan Wiebe) and once again, the setting would be a sorority house over the Christmas period, albeit with new protagonists. That in itself was a benefit to the movie as I think trying to do another version of Jess and company wouldn't have worked.

Our main Final Girl was the rather assertive and generally nice, Kelli Presley (Katie Cassidy). Instead of spending time with her boyfriend, Kyle Autry (Oliver Hudson), she wanted to spend it with her "sisters" and House Mother, Barbara MacHenry (Andrea Martin). Of course, Billy had other ideas.

With the girls being cooped up during a snow storm, we got to briefly know this batch of women. There was Melissa (Michelle Tratchenberg), Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Dana (Lacey Chabert), Clair (Leela Savasta) the rather oddball Eve (Kathleen Kole) and Megan (Jessica Harmon). They're not the most developed of characters but neither are that too awful as characters either. It's more middle ground with them overall.

Anyways, the body count rose throughout the movie with each of the girls (and Barbara) getting gruesomely killed off while Clair's half sister, Leigh (Kristen Cloke) also found herself in the mix while Billy's backstory involving his abusive mother, Constance (Karin Konoval) and younger sister, Agnes (Dean Friss/Christina Crivici) was also revealed in gruesome detail.

The twist involving Agnes was a nice enough departure from the original movie and the added backstory for Billy actually helped the movie a lot more than expected. The final few minutes though are reminiscent of another horror sequel that came out five years after this movie. If you know you know.

- A different ending that played homage to the original film was scrapped in favour of the one we ended up with. Andrea Martin was Phyllis in the 1974 movie.

- This was actually released on Christmas Day in the US but ten days earlier in the UK.

- Standout music: Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky and Carol Of The Bells by The Roger Wagner Chorale.

- Chronology: Billy was born in 1970, Agnes in 1979, Billy went mad and killed his mother in 1991 and the current Christmas was in 2006.

My expectations weren't high for this version of Black Christmas but I actually enjoyed this as much as the original. It changed enough to give it an identity of it's own in a good way while also retaining the essence of the original and expanding on the lore of Billy as a villain. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Creature Commandos: "Cheers To The Tin Man"

 

Written by James Gunn 

Directed by Matt Peters 

Circe (to Project M): "You don't understand what you've done. You've doomed the world."

Wait, could Circe not be the bad guy after all? Yeah, I dont think so. Saying that, it's also very possible that Flag Sr and his monster squad might have made a colossal boo boo. Oh dear.

Circe at the end of the last episode along with her band of loser incels, the Sons of Themyscira left The Bride and Nina Mazursky tied up for Flag Sr and company to find. They did that and then realised that Circe now had the head start.

Circe didn't waste time getting to the castle and while the Princess was savvy enough to outsmart and even kill some SofT losers, she almost got obliterated by Circe. I swear if Weasel hadn't shown up and gone very feral, Ilana would've been dead on the spot.

Personally while I get the criticism of Circe not being at her full power, I actually didn't mind both Weasel and Phosphorus getting the jump here. I think Circe just didn't expect them to get her so quickly but I am going to need to know why she's so determined to kill the Princess.

As for G.I. Robot, his death by Circe came as a surprise but it shouldn't have done. There's likely more deaths coming up in these remaining episodes. G.I. Robot did though get some meaningful flashbacks with the likes of Sgt. Rock (Maury Sterling), Will Magnus (Alan Tudyk) and Sam Fitzgibbon (Michael Rooker) all expanding his backstory before his death in this one.

- We got some appearances for the likes of Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man, Crimson Centipede and Fisherman to name some brief cameos along with Easy Company and a Metal Men Easter egg.

- Nina was quick to drop The Bride in it when they were heading back to the castle.

- I thought Ilana would've had a more up to date gun to defend herself instead of the one she did use.

- Chronology: Flashbacks to the 1940s, 1960s and 1990s for G.I. Robot.

Cheers To The Tin Man was a nice centre piece for G.I. Robot and it also remedied my previous criticism with the music from the first two episodes. The show's not holding back on the violence and this one even showed some entrails to boot.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Box Of Delights (1984 BBC1 Miniseries)

 

Written by Alan Seymour 

Directed by Renny Rye

Kay: "The wolves are running."

Well, it is the month of Christmas and while I haven't overloaded this blog yet with Christmas posts/reviews, I did recently watch this miniseries for the first time. Yes, you heard correctly - I watched this for the first time to coincide with it's 40th anniversary.

Imagine if Doctor Who sort of did Christmas specials back in the 1980s (K9 And Company aside), I'd imagine it'd be something like this that we would've gotten. The fact that Second Doctor actor Patrick Troughton also had a prominent role as a mysterious stranger certainly added to that feeling as well.

Anyways our hero of the piece was a boarding school kid named Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield). He's given the title box in question and it's a box that effectively lived up to its name because through this six episode miniseries, Kay was able to change his size, time travel in dreams, fly and even communicate with rats and so on.

Of course having such a powerful box meant that bad guys also wanted it too. This was where Abner Brown (Robert Stephens) factored into the miniseries, keeping the box's original owner, Cole Hawlings (Patrick Troughton) captive, while actively pursuing the box.

As a baddie, there's a good boo hiss quality to Abner as a character. He's so outwardly nasty that it beggared belief that none of the authorities would listen to Kay when he tried to tell them about Abner being evil. We got to see Abner's cruelty towards several characters, including two who ended up betraying him at the worst possible moment.

As for the box itself, there's a moment where Kay travelled back in time to meet the original creator, who wasn't much help to him at all. By the end of this, Kay managed to rescue everyone he cared about, defeated Abner and went to Christmas mass and did some more flying about. 

- Episode titles are Where The Wolves Were Running, Where Shall The Nighted Showman Go?, In Darkest Cellars Underneath, The Spide In The Web, Beware Of Yesterday and Leave Us Not Little Nor Yet Dark.

- Cole was a Punch and Judy man but also was alluded to being Ramon Llull.

- The title sequence was very 1980s Doctor Who and the use of The First Nowell was a little chilling. 

- Chronology: Set during the Christmas of 1934. John Masefield's book came out in 1935.

The Box Of Delights is a certainly a good treat to watch for the first time over the Christmas period or even watch again if you haven't in a long time. For a first viewing, I quite liked it.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Fox And The Hound (1981)

 

Written by Larry Clemmons And Ted Berman And David Michener And Peter Young And Burny Mattinson And Steve Hulett And Earl Kress And Vance Gerry

Directed by Ted Berman And Richard Rich And Art Stevens

Tod: "Copper, you're my best friend."

Copper: "And you're mine too, Tod."

Tod: "And we'll always be friends forever. Won't we?"

Copper: "Yeah, forever."

I've been on a tiny bit of a Disney watch along and I have to admit that this movie in particular was a first time watch for me. I had heard of it but I had never watched it until recently and like many Disney movies from this era, I'm glad I did. 

Our story began with an abandoned red fox cub who would be named Tod (Mickey Rooney/Keith Mitchell) upon being adopted by Widow Tweed (Jeanette Nolan). Of course it was the wise owl, Big Mama (Pearl Bailey) who brought the two together and it's a rather sweet pairing.

On the other side, there was the hound himself - Copper (Kurt Russell/Corey Feldman). He was raised by Amos Slade (Jack Albertson) and fellow hunting dog, Chief (Pat Buttram). The latter was a bit exasperated with Copper while Amos was very into hunting foxes.

Thus leading to the conflict of interest. What happened when Tod and Copper actually met? Why, they only went and became friends, in spite of everyone else telling them that they were supposed to be natural enemies. However, they didn't let their friendship get derailed until both of them got older and circumstances changed their respective outlooks.

This film really does have a great focus on friendship and the one between Tod and Copper was lovely to watch. It's believable that we would get circumstances that would test that friendship while proving that friendship really can overcome the odds.

- There's a fun subplot with Dinky (Dick Bakalyan) and Boomer (Paul Winchell) try and failing to eat a caterpillar who eventually became a butterfly.

- In the novel the movie's based, Chief died but that didn't happen here of course.

- Standout music: Best Of Friends, A Huntin' Man and Goodbye May Seem Forever.

- Chronology: Years pass throughout the movie as both Tod and Cooper get older. We do get a nice glimpse of winter mid way.

The Fox And The Hound is a sweet tale about an unlikely friendship and overcoming the odds of two characters that everyone else wanted to be enemies. While the songs lack a punch compared to other movies, it's still a nice one to watch.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Foe (2023)

 

Written by Iain Reid And Garth Davis

Directed by Garth Davis

Hen (re Junior): "He doesn't really see me anymore. It's as if he's replaced me with someone else. I've lost those parts of who I am, or who I could be. And, I'm scared I won't ever get them back."

I have to confess, I watched this movie back in January and I found it to be an absolute misfire. I watched it again a few weeks ago out of curiosity and again, I found it to be a misfire. 

It's one of those films that on paper had a brilliant idea but with such a muddled execution, the whole thing fell apart. Then there's the lead actors themselves. Sometimes great chemistry isn't enough to salvage a movie. There's a lesson to be learned there.

Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal star as an American couple (their accents are decent) called Hen and Junior. They live on a remote farm and an encounter with a mystery man named Terrence (Aaron Pierre) had quite the detrimental effect on the couple.  

Mainly because Terrence was from an organisation called OuterMore and Junior ended up being replaced by an android version of himself. It's a version that Hen predictably ended up getting attached to that she ended preferring the android to her real life husband.

Add to the fact you had Terrence living with Hen and her husband's android duplicate, this became a rather messy dynamic for practically everyone involved. By the end of this movie, one Junior was permanently shut down and the other resumed a life of discontentment with Hen.

Again, this movie was confusing in parts and definitely longer than necessary. The chemistry between Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan, excellent as it is, it barely held it together. 

- The only other acting role in the movie was Jane Harber playing a news reporter.

- Lakeith Stanford was originally cast as Terrence before being replaced by Aaron Pierre.

- The film had a limited theatrical release before Amazon Prime released worldwide.

- Chronology: There's a two year time jump within the movie itself.

Foe is nicely shot, it has three leads who do their best with the ropey material but it's an absolute slog of a movie to get through and the ideas have been done better elsewhere. Not one I'd recommend.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Pinocchio (1940)

 

Written by Ted Sears And Otto Englander And Webb Smith And William Cottrell And Joseph Sabo And Erdman Penne And Aurelius Battaglia

Directed by Ben Sharpsteen And Hamilton Luske And Bill Roberts And Norman Ferguson And Jack Kinney And Wilfred Jackson And T. Hee

Blue Fairy: "Now, remember, Pinocchio: be a good boy. And always let your conscience be your guide."

A couple of weeks ago, I watched the 2022 version of this movie but I realised that I hadn't reviewed the original, so I'm amending that right now. Yes, another childhood classic to go over.

You've got lonely toymaker Gepetto (Christian Rub) who carves himself a wooden boy named Pinocchio (Dick Jones). Pinocchio's brought to life by the Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) and talking cricket Jiminy (Cliff Edwards) had the unenviable task of being Pinocchio's conscience.

Of course for a newly brought to life puppet child, Pinocchio was a little eaaily led astray. There was dodgy cat and fox duo Honest John (Walter Catlett) and Gideon the Cat (Mel Blanc) who managed to get Pinocchio the fame he wanted by being an act in Stromboli's (Charles Judels) puppet show.

Even though Pinocchio managed to get away from Stromboli's horrible grasp, his penchant for lying and mischievous behaviour continued to bite him. It's amusing as he found his nose growing every time he lied, even with the Blue Fairy seemingly exasperated by him. 

There was also his encounter with the Coachman (Stuart Buchanan) on Pleasure Island. It's a horrifying sequence in which bad children found themselves turned into donkeys and the very thing that set Pinocchio on the straight and narrow.

The last act of the movie of course involved being eaten by a whale where Pinocchio reunited with Gepetto. The whale being called Monstro (Thurl Ravenscroft) and a sneeze being the thing to free everyone. As for Pinocchio, his quest to become a real boy ended exactly how you'd expect to end but it's earned.

- Gepetto also had a cat and a fish called Figaro and Cleo, who weren't in the original story.

- None of the actors are credited for the movie. 

- Standout music: When You Wish Upon A Star, Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee and Ive Got No Strings.

- Chronology: Late 19th Century Italy.

Pinocchio is a tale about one's conscience and humanity, all through the prism of a live puppet learning about both with harsh lessons along the way. It's effectively done with a decent soundtrack and a slew of different obstacles. The Coachman remains one of the most terrifying villains though.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Lion King (1994)

 

Written by Irene Mecchi And Jonathan Roberts And Linda Woolverton

Directed by Roger Allers And Rob Minkoff

Simba: "Oh, I just can't wait to be King."

It's been a good thirty years since the release of this movie. In that time we've had straight to DVD sequels/prequels, a live action reboot (on my list to review this month) and a live action prequel also about to hit cinemas this month. Okay, not a unique situation for a Disney movie.

Anyways, this movie was something I loved as a child and every single often, I find myself coming back to as an adult. The movie itself opened with the birth of Simba (Matthew Broderick/Jonathan Taylor Thomas) with both parents Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) being proud of their new addition.

Of course Simba's a bit of a boisterous cub, causing exasperation to his father's majordomo Zazu (Rowan Atkinson) but also Simba had a friend and future mate with fellow cub Nala (Moira Kelly/Niketa Calame). Yes,Simba had a flair for mischief and an uncle named Scar (Jeremy Irons) who was more than eager to use that to his advantage.

Now we've seen Disney villains being mean and murderous all the time but for some reason, when it's Scar, it felt that bit worse. Recruiting hyenas Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), Banzai (Cheech Marin) and Ed (Jim Cummings) to help kill Mufasa along with also trying to get rid of Simba. Yes, Scar felt that tiny bit more evil than other villains when in reality he's about the same.

Of course it does boil down to the performance and the calculated way in which Scar made Simba believe that the latter was responsible for Mufasa's death. Simba's long exile did result in his friendships with Pumbaa (Ernie Sambella) and Timon (Nathan Lane) and those two are the absolute best friends anyone can have in a Disney movie.

Speaking of Scar, that confrontation between him and the adult Simba as the latter reclaims the pride that Scar took over and diminished was the best part of the movie. Scar's comeuppance was suitably dark, even with the movie ending on a brighter note with a new generation born into the pride.

- A character I liked a lot in this movie was Rafiki (Robert Guillaume), the Shaman of the Pride Lands.

- One of the few Disney movies ot based on an adaptation of sorts.

- Standout music: Circle of Life, I Just Can't Wait to Be King, Be Prepared, Hakuna Matata, and Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

- Chronology: An unspecified time in the Pride Lands of Tanzania.

The Lion King would definitely be in my Top 5 of all time Disney movies. It's just a joy to watch from start to finish with a sympathetic young lead, a fantastically camp and menacing villain, great supporting characters and memorable songs. What more could you want?

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Les Miserables (2012)

 

Written by William Nicholson And Alain Boublil And Claude-Michel Schönberg And Herbert Kretzmer

Directed by Tom Hooper 

Gavroche: "This is the land that fought for liberty, now when we fight, we fight for bread... here is the thing about equality, everyone's equal when they're dead."

Yesterday, I looked at the epic misfire that was Cats, so as a counterbalance, I also went back to look at Tom Hooper's success with this musical adaptation. I really love this one.

Based on the Victor Hugo of the same name and the stage production, the film initially focused on the impoverished Fantine (Anne Hathaway), a single mother, trying to make ends meet in a factory. Jealous co-workers and an distant boss in Valjean (Hugh Jackman) see Fantine's life take a turn for the worst.

She's had to give up her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen/Amanda Seyfried) to a horrible innkeeper couple, Thénardiers (Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter) and was forced to sell herself on the streets. Brutish clients, sickness and the overzealous police inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) all added to Fantine's misery before dying.

As for Valjean, his history with Javert came to the forefront when he stepped up to adopt Cosette and while the two of them moved up in the world, Javert was adamant in his pursuit of justice. That was in spite of the new philanthropic role that Valjean has set up for himself.

The second half of the movie very much moved into the revolution side of things. There's a love triangle between Cosette, activist Marius Pontmercy (Eddie Redmayne) and the Thénardiers daughter, Eponine (Samantha Barks) during this, which does offer sympathy for the latter. 

Between betrayals, blackmails, executions and sacrifices from our remaining players, this last act of this movie was a triumph. There's certainly plenty of sad moments as well as happier ones with both Cosette and Marius by the end of this storming adaptation. 

- Several actors from previous stage productions such as Fra Free, George Blagden, Julian Bleach, Kate Fleetwood and Hannah Waddingham appeared in the movie.

- A lot of Fantine's characteristics came from Hugo's own encounter with a real life prostitute being accosted by a customer in public. 

- Standout music: Valjean's Soliloquy, I Dreamed A Dream, Master Of The House, Suddenly, On My Own, One Day More, Bring Him Home and The Final Battle.

- Chronology: 1815 to begin with as well as 1823 in Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais 1832 in Paris.

Les Miserables definitely was a triumph for Tom Hooper. He took the stage adaptation and managed to make it into a more accessible movie with some genuinely spellbinding performances from everyone on board. Easily my favourite musical adaptation and it's aged pretty damn good too.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Cats (2019)

 

Written by Lee Hall And Tom Hooper 

Directed by Tom Hooper 

Grizabella: "Touch me! It's so easy to leave me! All alone with the memory of my days in the sun. If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is! Look, a new day has begun."

It's coming up to five years since this chaotic misfire of an adaptation was released and I cannot lie, it hasn't improved with time. Sometimes there are movies that are just fascinating disasters to watch. This would be one of them.

Taking Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical, giving to the same director who successfully brought Les Miserables to the big screen seven years prior and loading it with a star cast that included the biggest pop star on the planet. This had all the ingredients to be a massive success and yet the exact opposite happened. What went wrong?

For starters, the actual designs on the cats themselves certainly didn't help and maybe just maybe mainstream audiences weren't in the mood to see how freaky these particular felines could get. That I think covered the main reasons for this movie crashing as it did.

As for the story itself, you've got newcomer Victoria (Francesca Hayward). She got abandoned by her owners and soon came into contact with the Jellicle cats Mr. Mistoffelees (Laurie Davidson), Munkustrap (Robbie Fairchild), Cassandra (Mette Towley) and Demeter (Daniela Norman). They're preparing for the grand Jellicle Ball, which had a rather unique prize of being granted reincarnation.

Of course there was other cats vying for that prize including the like of Jennyanydots (Rebel Wilson), Rum Tum Tugger (Jason Derulo), Bustopher Jones (James Corden), Skimbleshanks (Steven MacRae) and the theatrical Gus (Ian McKellan). Also, Taylor Swift as Bombalurina in one of the worst performances from this movie. Sorry Swifties but you know I'm telling the truth here.

Yes there's a lot of cats in the movie and if the ones I mentioned weren't enough, there's also the villain of the piece, Macavity (Idris Elba), the disgraced Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson), both of whom are actually the highlights of this misguided venture. Them and of course Judi Dench's Old Deuteronomy, adding a little of gravitas to the whole debacle. 

The movie took big swings but mostly missed as the completion heated up and only one winner could ultimately get the prize while the villain revelled in being such a baddie. As for Victoria, she might have been abandoned by one family but she certainly gained another by the end of this movie.

- Other cats included troublesome duo Mungojerrie (Danny Collins), Rumpleteazer (Naoimh Morgan) as well as Growltiger (Ray Winstone) and Plato and Socrates (Les Twins).

- The CGI problems are horribly blatant in a lot of the scenes. 

- Standout music: Jellicle Songs For Jellicle Cats, Old Deuteronomy, Beautiful Ghosts, Macavity: The Mystery Cat and Memory.

- Chronology: A very wintry and magical London at night.

Cats truly was an epic misfire of a movie but as bad as it is, I can't help but find the whole thing fascinating as hell. It had everything in its favour that it should've been a triumph, yet it completely fell to pieces. It's a movie that will stay with you as a viewer but not for the reasons you'd want it to.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Dune: Part Two (2024)

 

Written by Denis Villeneuve And Jon Spaihts

Directed by Denis Villeneuve 

Paul: "I am Paul Muad'Dib Atreides, Duke of Arrakis. The Hand of God be my witness, I am the Voice from the Outer World! I will lead you to PARADISE!"

Having watched both these movies days apart, I'm still not entirely as enamoured with this space saga as many others have been but I can admire the scale and ambition of this movie franchise.

From the previous movie, prophet Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) had managed to fall in with the Freman tribe and become allies with then in their quest to get back at those who betrayed their family. It was a quest that would inevitably bring out a much darker side to Paul.

Of course there was also the romance between Paul and Chani (Zendaya), the latter who was very much against prophecies and being controlled by destiny. I'll admit, it's a strong enough aspect of the movie with Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya giving it their best. However their romance also hit a major complication towards the end of this one.

When Chani wasn't brazenly defying destiny and disturbing customs, Paul found himself betrothed to Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). Irulan was the daughter of Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) and he was directly responsible for Paul's father being killed and House Atreides almost being taken off the map. 

With Paul and Chani somewhat at odds, one of the strengths of this movie would be the furthest expansion of the Bene Gesserit. The Reverend Mother (Charlotte Rampling) conspired while both Princess Irulan and Lady Margot Fenring (Lea Seydoux) were revealed as members. Lady Jessica underwent her own ascension within the ranks and even Paul got subjected to his own ascension to boot.

Then there was House Harkonnen. They somewhat paid for their attempts to dismantle the Atreides. This movie saw both the Baron (Stellan Skarsgard) and his nephew Rabban (Dave Bautista)  get taken down along with the odious Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler). The latter character was a delightful addition, though surprisingly not as prominent as I thought he would. He does however manage to get a decent confrontation with Paul before his demise.

- Anya Taylor-Joy appeared briefly through visions as Paul's unborn sister, Alia. She would be born in 10,191 A.G.

- It was revealed that Jessica was the Baron's daughter, making Paul cousins with both Rabban and Feyd-Rautha. The latter seemed amused by that revelation.

- To complete this trilogy, we'll be getting Dune: Messiah by 2026 (or more likely, 2027)

- Chronology: Not long from where the first part of the movie left off. 

I did slightly enjoy Dune: Part Two a little more than the first but I also found it overlong with certain parts almost dragging out too much. The new characters were interesting as was the way both Paul and Chani's relationship progressed and devolved throughout.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Creature Commandos: "The Tourmaline Necklace"

 

Written by James Gunn

Directed by Sam Liu

The Bride: "Sorry."

Nina: "Go. Fuck. Yourself."

Okay, this one was better and it had two bizarre sex scenes in it. It also had two brilliant fight scenes and a really fun exploration of The Bride Of Frankenstein to boot.

If the first episode was about setting up the team, then from this episode onwards, we're clearly getting the proper backstories for each member of Project M. First up, The Bride herself.

Yes, she was created by Victor Frankenstein (Peter Serafinowicz) in order to be the perfect partner for the more entitled Eric but she hated him on sight. Even worse for Eric was the Bride's love for Victor, so Eric ended up killing him and a centuries long feud between the Bride and Eric has been a thing ever since.

In the current day though when the Bride wasn't sniping at Nina and looking for the titular necklace, there was the issue of Circe. Yes, Circe knew how to make an entrance and the violent smackdown between Circe and The Bride was something to behold. The fight sequences in this show have been astounding so far.

By the end of the episode, Circe and her incel Sons of Themyscira losers had captured both The Bride and Nina. While that was happening, Flag Sr was getting more intimately acquainted with the Princess and Phosphorus was more aggrieved that he couldn't do anything right according to Flag Sr.

- This episode had G.I. Robot mistook Phosphorus for a Nazi. Phosphorus also seemed to understand Weasel.

- Circe hitting The Bride with an iron rod did remind me of something involving two other characters. 

- Yes, we got a sex scene between The Bride and Victor Frankenstein. 

- Chronology: The flashbacks spanned from 1831 to 1991 for The Bride and her attempts to get away from Eric.

The Tourmaline Necklace certainly added a newish spin to The Bride and Frankenstein while giving a series of excellent fight scenes to match. Overall, a stronger episode than the first one.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Creature Commandos: "The Collywobbles"

 

Written by James Gunn

Directed by Matt Peters

Amanda: "This is your new task force, Flag. Let's call it Project M. M for monster, also known as -"

It's been a year since the DC Extended Universe ended on an underwhelming note with Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. Now its the DC Universe and we're off to something of an animated start with Creature Commandos. 

Depending on how you feel about The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, your mileage may vary with this show. It's very much within James Gunn's wheelhouse, for better and for worse. Also, it heavily references his works in the former DC continuity.

No longer able to use humans for her dangerous missions, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has enlisted Rick Flag Sr (Frank Grillo) to work with a monster squad. The squad being The Bride (Indira Varma), Weasel/G.I. Robot (Sean Gunn), Dr Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk) and Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao). Yup, it's very much within the Gunn wheelhouse so far.

Their mission involved the fictional European country of Pokolistan where the Princess Ilana Rostovic (Maria Bakalova) needed protection from Circe (Anya Chalotra) and her insufferable Sons of Themyscira. Yay for one half of that villain team up. The quicker the second half become a livestock, the better.

While Circe's role wasn't as large in this one as hoped, we did have some moments with Flag Sr and the group in Pokolistan. There's some cringey flirting between Rick Sr and the Princess but a fight scene between the former and Phosphorus was actually a delight to watch.

Also a delight was G.I. Robot. His desire to kill Nazis to one side, there's a rather sweet potential romance with him and Nina bubbling under the surface. There was also The Bride heading back to the place she was born and with that, a rather creepy ending involving Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour).

- Weasel has killed 27 children but was largely treated like the group dog. G.I. Robot did think he was a Nazi at one point.

- Flag Sr became a father to the deceased Jr at 18 and gew to resent his ex-wife. 

- The title sequence, while not as good as Peacemaker did actually feature James Gunn in it.

- Chronology: Two years since the events of Project Starfish.

The Collywobbles does a decent job establishing the main characters, giving hints at each of their backstories. The weakest part was the Flag Sr/Princess subplot but other than that, a good start.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Dune: Part One (2021)

 

Written by Jon Spaihts And Denis Villeneuve And Eric Roth

Directed by Denis Villeneuve 

Paul Atreides: "That's the future. It's coming. Holy war spreading across the universe like unquenchable fire."

To venture into territory that has previously been ventured. Frank Herbert's reputable sci-fi book series has already been a previous big screen offering back in 1984 and a miniseries in 2000/2003. However this adaptation has managed to become the definitive take, in spite of it's release during the pandemic.

I've never read the book or watched the previous adaptations, so I'm going in blind with this one. Our lead protagonist, Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet) has a destiny and one that he's not quite prepared for or even understands that much. During the first part of this saga though, he had a fair amount of shit to deal with.

First of all, he kept seeing a Freman woman named Chani (Zendaya) in his dreams but it wasn't until the end of the movie that he actually encountered her and the tribe led by ally Stilgar (Javier Bardem). I know aspects of their love story but here, it definitely did not seem like love at first sight between Paul and Chani.

Of course, the main plot of this movie involved spice and Paul's father, Leto (Oscar Isaac) being assigned the job ofreplacing Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgard) as the fiefholder of Arrakis and with that, came trouble. It didn't take long for Leto to become a casualty and it didn't take long either for both Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) to be almost taken out either.

Paul's relationship with his mother was the thing I found the most interesting from this movie. Jessica's a consort rather than wife to Leto and came from a sisterhood named the Bene Gesserit, who have their own unique abilities. It's also interesting that while Jessica was instructed to bear a daughter, she defied the matriarchal group by having a son instead.

There's a lot of characters and machinations to keep afoot with in this movie and it's cast are definitely it's biggest strength. There's strong supporting performances from the likes of Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam, Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho, Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban and Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck to name a few.

- Sharon Duncan-Brewstsr appeared as Dr. Liet Keynes, a character who's usually male in the source material. 

- The Part One part of the movie was almost hidden from the marketing even though this clearly was meant to be a two part saga.

- The brief showing of sandworms did look cool as did that spider creature. 

- Chronology: Distant future, mainly on Arrakis.

I got to admit that my experience with Dune: Part One is something of a mixed bag. On a technical level, there's a lot to like with it. It looks stunning, the acting's certainly not lacking and the script tried to make the dense material accessible but there's something a bit cold about it that made me struggle to care as much as I should. 

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Black Christmas (1974)

 

Written by Roy Moore 

Directed by Bob Clark 

Billy (to Jessica): "Just like having a wart removed."

To think, it's been fifty years since the release of this movie. Fifty years and two remakes later. It's also a first time watch for me and yes, I hope to catch up with the 2006 and 2019 versions this month as well if possible.

Somewhat based on the urban legend of "the babysitter and the man upstairs", this movie took place within a sorority house. A group of sisters being tormented by a heavy breather on the other end of the phone.

A heavy breather who when he wasn't been lewd and sexually threatening also was going about killing these sisters, one by one. Our protagonist of the piece was a young woman named Jessica Bradford (Olivia Hussey). She was the one mostly interacting with the killer on the phone.

Of course, Jessica had other issues besides being stalked by a killer. There was the fact that she had fallen pregnant by her boyfriend, Peter Symthe (Keir Dullea). She wanted to have an abortion and Peter was dead set against the idea. Peter's overzealous attitude towards Jessica also led to the belief that he was the killer, only for the last scene to disprove that theory.

As for other characters, they're there as fodder. There's some screen time afforded to house mother, Mrs Mac (Marian Waldman) and bitchy sister, Barb Coard (Margot Kidder). Both are given rather brutal deaths by the killer while John Saxon has a decent supporting role as Lt. Kenneth Fuller. 

What about the killer? For a guy who spent the movie tormenting and killing as many women as he could, very little was actually revealed about him. We just know by the end of the movie, he wasn't actually caught and his name was Billy (Nick Mancuso). Though not in the movie itself. It's an interesting to keep the level of ambiguity for the character.

- The iller is credited as The Moaner and along with Nick Mancuso, both Bob Clark and Albert J. Dunk also played the character.

- The movie was inspired by a series of murders that happened in the Westmount area of Montreal in 1943.

- Standout music: Some eerie score music from Carl Zittrer as well as Christmas carols used during Billy's attack on Barb.

- Chronology: Christmas time in the 1970s.

Black Christmas certainly maintained an eerie atmosphere throughout. The ambiguity with the killer and his fixation on Jessica definitely upped the tension and while other characters weren't as fleshed out, this movie certainly has earned its cult status among horror fans.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Superman And Lois 4x10: "It Went By So Fast"

 

Written by Brent Fletcher And Todd Helbing

Directed by Gregory Smith

Clark: "What do you think Superman and Lois Lane will be remembered for?"

Lois: "I'd like to think truth, justice."

Clark: "And a better tomorrow."

When it comes to the Arrowverse (and yes, I consider this show to be a part of it), we've had some hit and miss and unintended series finales. This one on the other hand was on another level of sheer brilliance.

Last week, it looked like we getting Superman killed by Doomsday yet again and I said this episode would subvert that overdone story. I was right and it did. Doomsday didn't kill Superman, even though he came pretty damn close to it during the episode.

Instead we got a rather poignant sacrifice from the character in space with Superman watching his end. I felt bad for poor Doomsday but he got a rather poignant exit. Easily the best handling of the character since the eighth season of Smallville.

As for Lex Luthor, that guy burned every bridge and then some. He got his ass handed to him by Lois, a public downfall courtesy of Amanda, another ass whooping by Superman and oh, once back in prison, he had to contend with Bruno Mannheim being in charge. Should've just left the Kents alone when everybody told you to, Lex.

All of that happened within the first half of this series finale. The second half was for family and community. We had Lana and John tying the knot and Kyle and Chrissy enjoying the parents of boys. There's a rather lovely exchange between Lana and Kyle as well as Jordan and Sarah. 

Of course, there's also Clark and Lois themselves. They talked about their legacies and we got to see them grow old together, use their influence to save so many lives, see both Jordan and Jonathan become adults, get wives and have many children. Then there was the gut wrenching final five minutes.

I bawled my eyes out when Lois died for real and then Clark living a bit longer without her, getting his own dog named Krypto and then there was his death too. This season was leading to it all along but it still floored me. The final shot especially was one of the most beautiful moments from the show. If you don't well up during those last few moments, you've got a heart of stone.

- Isn't it fitting that the WB/CW DC era (2001-2024) began and ended with Superman?

- I was right about David Giuntoli appearing in this episode but I thought he was going to be Batman. Instead he played an older Jonathan.

- Did Lois see her father before dying? It's a pity we didn't get Dylan Walsh back for one scene.

- Lois in the red dress, she looked stunning. Thematically, it made sense that's how Clark would see her in the afterlife.

- I loved the shot of Superman, the Super Sons, Steel and Starlight working together.

- Chronology: 32 years passed as we got towards the end of this episode.

It Went By So Fast certainly was an apt title for this episode. Four seasons, 53 episodes and some of the best storytelling in the Superman mythos ever. This was an incredible series finale and both Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch gave us the best modern version of these characters to date. I couldn't be more happier with this episode, even though it made me cry.

Rating: 10 out of 10 

My Review of Emily (2022)

 

Written And Directed by Frances O'Connor

Charlotte: "You deserve for someone to see."

Emily: "Someone did! Someone did see them! You!"

Ah, a Gothic tale about one of the most influential literary icons and a tiny bit of creative licencing from a first time writer/director but long time actor? Colour me intrigued. This movie certainly made for an unsettling affair.

The Brontë sisters are icons and that's not hyperbole, they genuinely are. This movie however was pivoted around the strange one also known as Emily Brontë (Emma Mackey) and it began with a death. The death being Emily's of course.

From there onwards, the movie delved back into the past. Emily was the odd out in her family, often at odds with both her father, Patrick (Adrian Dunbar) and sisters, Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) and Anne (Amelia Gething) as well as her aunt (Gemma Jones). None of them seemed to get Emily and her peculiar ways.

Emily did however managed to have had a better relationship with her similarly creative brother, Bramwell (Fionn Whitehead) and the two certainly got into mischief. However Branwell's fondness for married women became his own downfall and the two siblings eventually grew more distant as the movie progressed.

Of course the most prominent relationship explored in this movie was the one that Emily had with new curate, William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Their relationship went through the gamut of pure antagonism towards one another, a tempestuous love affair, an even worse break up and of course, death for both parties.

Despite being historically inaccurate, Emily and William's love/hate relationship really drove the narrative of this movie and the best scenes were usually the two sparring with each other. However, it's a doomed love story with a very gloomy ending in a movie that's not exactly a barrel of laughs throughout.

- Originally both Joe Alwyn and Emily Beecham were cast but left before filming began. I'm assuming the former was originally set to play William.

- The scene where Emily used a mask to impersonate her dead mother really veered into pure horror territory. I hope that's a genre Frances O'Connor delves into with her next movie.

- Standout music: Nocturne No. 2 in C Minor, H. 25, performed by Elizabeth Joy Roe.

- Chronology: Going by Emily's death, the movie began and ended in 1848.

Emily takes some creative liberties with the Wuthering Heights scribe but it's an impressive debut from writer/director and Emma Mackey gave an absolutely superb performance as Emily Brontë. It's not an easy watch but it's definitely a worthwhile one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990)

 

Written by Brian Yuzna And Arthur H. Gorson And S.J. Smith

Directed by Brian Yuzna

Kim: "Lonnie, it's all over now."

Oftentimes in a horror franchise, you get an entry like no other to the point where you wonder why it's even a part of the franchise in question. Fans of Halloween know what I'm talking about. That also seems to be applicable here too.

Moving away from the killer Santas that dominated the first three movies, this one took a far wilder turn and I don't know how to feel about that. On paper, the shake up was desperately needed and delving into something witchcraft related will always be a plus for me. I'm just not sure about the execution of it.

Anyways our protagonist for this change in direction was a journalist named Kim Levitt (Neith Hunter). She's somewhat passed over for the good jobs at work by her inconsiderate boss, Eli (Reggie Bannister) and her boyfriend, Hank (Tommy Hinkley) isn't much better either. Then again neither are Hank's family that don't take kindly to Kim being Jewish.

Of course, between work hassles and bad boyfriends, Kim's life took more of a crazier turn when she found herself being terrorised by the mysterious Ricky Baker (Clint Howard). Ricky's pursuit of Kim also coincided with the fact that she had been initiated into a cult that also wanted Kim to kill Lonnie (Conan Yuzna) to complete her initiation.

I'll give points to the point for upping the gore and body horror factor as Kim certainly went through a lot of Hell trying to get away from the cult and to break the curse they had put upon her. Some of the scenes are genuinely rough to sit through and the use of larva in some parts was definitely disgusting as well.

- There's a rather OTT performance from cult leader Fima, played by Maud Adams.

- The coven were worshippers of Lilith with Kim being framed as an analogy for the biblical figure.

- Some of the ideas behind this movie were rejected from the previous one.

- Chronology: Christmas 1990 but with no references to the previous movies. 

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation really could've been it's own thing without any connection to this franchise. I applaud it for trying something different but it's execution was horrible, so it's really not worth the effort to watch every again.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

My Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989)

 

Written by Carlos Laszlo And Monte Hellman And Arthur Gorson

Directed by Monte Hellman 

Laura: "Merry Christmas."

Ricky: "And a Happy New Year."

Last year, I embarked on watching this Christmas horror series but only reviewed the first two movies. To amend things, this month will kick off with reviews for both this and the fourth movies. I'll likely save the next two for next year to tie in with the upcoming remake.

The second movie had focused on Eric Freeman's s younger brother, Ricky Caldwell (Bill Moseley) as the axe wielding Sanra Claus Hanks this one also had him as the main antagonist of the piece. Last time we saw Ricky he got gunned down by police. Time has passed since then.

Yup, for Ricky, he's now got a transparent dome on his head to repair his damaged skull. On top of that, he's also got two new protagonists to go up against as his bloodlust remained rather high. The guy's more unhinged than Eric ever was. 

The first protagonist would be his therapist, Dr. Newbury (Richard Beymer). It's a typical role where Newbury tried to assess the triggers to Ricky's violent impulses while Ricky himself killed a Santa impersonator and escaped the hospital. Oh and it didn't end well for Dr Newbury either as his attempts to fix Ricky came to a horrible ending for him.

Then there was blind clairvoyant girl Laura Anderson (Samantha Scully). Along with her brother Chris (Eric Da Re) and his girlfriend, Jerri (Laura Harring), their trip to spend Christmas with Granny Anderson (Elizabeth Hoffman) put them right into Ricky's crosshairs.

As you can guess, pretty everyone who wasn't Laura got taken out by Ricky and in the usual horror ways too. The final scene with a surviving Laura and a bit of fourth wall breaking does end the movie on an okay note.

- There's some uncredited rewrites by Steven Gaydos for this movie.

- There's also archive footage of the first two movies to bring you up to speed with things here.

- This movie was very much rushed into production with the revised script written within a week.

- Chronology: Six years since the events of the second movie.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! did feel like a natural conclusion to a messy trilogy of Christmas slasher movies. It's not particularly great but a tiny bit fascinating in its dynamic between Ricky and Laura. 

Rating: 5 out of 10