The Return (2006)

I had no idea what to expect from this movie. It stars Sarah Michelle Gellar of Buffy fame. It turns out to be a pretty good film. Sarah plays a character called Joanna who is haunted by visions that get worse when she has to go into Texas for her work. She slowly starts to piece together a narrative from the visions, as does the viewer, and this eventually leads her to discover the truth about a murder several years before. It is all put together very competently and I'd say works very well.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

I saw this on its release day here in the UK. The first two Avengers films were very good I thought and this is also a good film. There is a lot happening in the film and it does a good job of keeping track of all the characters and events that are happening. I could mostly follow the plot all the way through - except for the last 20 minutes. The ending, which I'm not going to spoil, was a little bit confusing and an obvious setting up for the next film. All of the characters I've enjoyed so far appear in the film, Ant Man was referenced but didn't make an appearance. Dead Pool made no appearance either. But Black Panther was in it and so was Black Widow. I liked the Scarlet Witch character, who seemed more powerful than Doctor Strange. the Guardians of the Galaxy were cool also. Thanos was played well. But that ending!

Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

I didn't see this at the cinema, having instead watched it on Netflix yesterday. I did enjoy the story and watching Brian Cox play an older coroner with his son as an assistant. I liked the setting, the coroners examination rooms were in the cellar of an old house and were all done out in wood and older materials. The setting was awesome and really helped the ambience of a story that was about a witch without the viewer ever seeing the witch as anything other than a girl on the autopsy table. It was shot very well and acted even better. Easy to recommend this.

Virus (1999)

This was quite ridiculous but in a strangely good way. A Russian navy ship with 3 huge satellite dishes on it is communicating with a Russian space station when something from space disrupts the communication. Its bad for the people in the space station and bad for the people in the ship. Some time later, a salvage ship escapes from a hurricane by sailing into the eye of it where they encounter a stranded and apparently deserted Russian navy ship. They board, their tug is sunk and they have to stay on board, where the crew have been turned into cyborgs. Donald Sutherland is in this film as a drunk Irish captain of the salvage vessel, he bears his teeth a lot but generally looks like he doesn't want to be in the film. Jamie Lee Curtis is also in this film. Nothing about this film really stands out apart from a cyborg version of Donald Sutherland, done very badly. I read its become something of a cult classic, I can see why but won't be rushing to watch it again.

A Quiet Place (2018)

This film was directed by John Krasinski who was an actor I remember from the American version of The Office. He played the character Tim that I think Martin Freeman played in the UK version. John stars in the film along with his real life wife Emily Blunt. The family are living some time in the future when creatures stalk the Earth and who kill anything that makes a loud sound. If that sounds corny then it is a credit to the filmmakers that it works as a film. The acting is great and the plot moves on well after the initial slow start. I'm glad I saw the film at the cinema, my wife didn't think it would translate as well to the small screen.

The Relic (1997)

The Relic was a mildly entertaining monster romp set in a museum of natural history. There is a mayor who has been warned a monster is on the lose but who thinks the opening night of a new exhibit is more important than peoples safety. There is a damsel who is a master on computers. There is a tough cop. All very clichéd and not enough substance to really move this film into anything other than the C grade I'm afraid. Even the monster feels a bit of a derivative off of the Predator series.

Inbred (2011)

This is a strange one to classify, a British horror/comedy I would say. There are a lot of special effects in this film and they are done to a very high standard. However, they are completely over the top and exaggerated. I found the film entertaining to watch though, it reminded me a lot of Cockneys vs Zombies crossed with League of Gentlemen. A group of troubled teens are taken into the country by 2 social workers and while there have to dismantle and strip old trains for anything valuable that can be sold. However, things take a turn for the worse when they antagonise the locals and the locals start killing them off in grotesque ways.

Annihilation (2018)

An interesting film I watched on Netflix, this. It was recommended by a friend and didn't disappoint me. I thought it was different to see a cast of mostly female actors who had most of the action roles. There were a few male characters but not many. The story was very intriguing, based on a book that was by Jeff vanderMeer and adapted for the big screen by Alex Garland. There were certainly some standout moments in this tale. Can't give too much away but visually this film is a pure joy. It is the story of something extra-terrestrial that comes to Earth and hits a lighthouse by the sea. The land surrounding the lighthouse becomes enveloped in a strange phenomenon known only as the Shimmer. Those who have gone in to the shimmer don't come back out again. Well, one person does. I thought it was very intriguing the whole way through. Very worth a watch.

The Abandoned (2006)

I saw this last night and it only made sense after I read what the plot was supposed to be on Wikipedia. That's not a good sign is it? The film is set in Russia and revolves around a character who is returning there after 40 years ago she was abandoned as a baby (along with another baby, who she finds out was her brother). An official tells her he tracked her down and that there is a house and some land for her in rural Russia. She is American. She goes to the house and it is creepy and dilapidated and she meets a man who claims he is her brother. They both want to know about their mother. The film uses time shifts to change the appearance of the house, I suppose its a clever device but it is a bit confusing also. Some scenes are set below the house in what looks like a military tunnel, which is odd. The actors in the film don't really engender much sympathy. Is it a scary film? To give some credit, it doesn't rely on jump scares and tries to use the situation to creep the audience out. It is partly successful but I feel the main problem is that it isn't clear what's happening.

The Signal (2014)

I watched this last night, it was an interesting film. It's a low budget sci-fi film and follows three US college students as they intercept a hacker named NOMAD and track him down. At the same time a sub-plot is that two of the friends are lovers and one of them is going away to study. So there is something of a break-up subtext going on. I liked the film, Nomad turns out to be something unexpected. Laurence Fishburn plays a character, in the way he always does. I am not sure I want to watch it again anytime soon but thought it was reasonably interesting. It's been a film I have wanted to watch for a while now.

Ready Player One (2018)

I read the novel a couple of years ago and enjoyed it very much. The film is a good version of the story, there are differences but the essence is the same. I loved all of the references to the pop culture of my generation. There are lots of action sequences and I enjoyed that I didn't really know who the actors were, all apart from Simon Pegg who (I think) is over-used in films. It was refreshing and visually exciting to watch. Lots of things were happening on screen at the same time and it was easy to miss things, especially if you are stuck in the story and not watching closely.