Category Archives: Movie review

Movie review: Bad Girl Boogey (2023)

23 Friday Jun 2023

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Alice Maio Mscksy is fast making conversation with her much needed voice for the transgender community. Where she made a significant impact with her low budget directorial feature debut, So Vam, Mackay has evidently built on her learning to tackle her next outing, Bad Girl Boogey with a lot more swagger, and a tightly knit package from which to orchestrate her vision. There is still some edge to her guerilla style shooting tactics though to ground the supernatural narrative into a believable world, as she weaves a topical and relevant dialogue with characters that ooze raw appeal.

Using the slasher genre as her playing field, Mackay is able to cut to the bone on a subject that seems close to the heart; one of oppression and ostracisation. Where So Vam focused on the victimisation of drag queen culture through vampiric lore, Bad Girl Boogey opens up the vein of societies’ so-called misfits to expose the dark side that all of humanity is vulnerable to. In fact, the facade that is placed on the characters and us voyeurs to the ordeal, make us all subjectable to the atrocities when we are left to feed on these human deficiencies while  it is left to fester. We have masks that we wear, to try and conform to society, but if we rely on hiding behind them and not facing up to what it means to have empathy and understanding of our fellow People, then we’ll be forever doomed as a society.

As we follow our lead protagonist, Angel (Lisa Fanto) following her own traumatic experience in the wake of losing her mother from a brutal murder. The trauma that Angel carries with her is still crude in its healing, and has left her drifting through life. It also leads her on the path of a deranged killer, who wears a parasitic mask, fuelled by dark magic to curse anyone who should wear it. If this isn’t a metaphor for Mackay’s whole agenda, I’m not sure what is. The audience are then treated to a troubling tale that identifies us all as potential killers unless we face up to the demons of a traumatic or scarred past and deal with it head on. The darkness can shed light on our most harboured trepidations and give rise to greater fears, but in doing so fosters conversation and in some cases hope. Alice is forced to do so when her best friend is killed and is suddenly subjected to overcoming her struggles, find the killer, and stop them before all those she holds dear are left in the toils of malice.

The Prognosis:

Alice Maio Mackay’s sophomore feature is just as painful and raw as her predecessor, but armed with knowledge and a strong core message, she manages to craft a tale that resonates. The gritty and dark side of humanity is exposed behind the mask we all wear, and Mackay proves once again that she not only has a message to share, but can do so with an impact that will make you sit up and listen. 

  • Saul Muerte

Bad Girl Boogey is currently available on DVD at Umbrella Entertainment while stocks last and will release on digital platforms July 4 and DVD release on July 11 through Dark Star Pictures.

Movie review: The Boogeyman (2023)

20 Tuesday Jun 2023

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We need a name for a genre of horror that features a supernatural Macguffin that latches itself onto someone and puts them through hell, to the – and this can’t be underlined enough – disbelief of all
those around them.
In these films the outcome for the lead actor (or usually actress) is that they die. Or they “beat” the phantom thing only to be taken out in the coda, because these creatures are supernatural herpes.
You can put ém down, but they’ll always come back…
Anyway – we can cite a number of these movies, which I’ll leave Saul Muerte to fill out…

Gee, thanks Ant, I’m guessing from your description that you’re talking about Supernatural Horrors. In which case, here’s a bunch of descent ones… (SAUL)

  • The Orphanage (2007)
  • The Innkeepers (2011)
  • The Babadook (2014)
  • Under The Shadow (2016)
  • His House (2020)

… but suffice to say The Boogeyman is the latest iteration.
Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, it follows the above formula to a tee, and so threatens to be a snooze fest of paint-by-numbers proportions. What it does – being an adaptation from the Master of Horror himself, and therefore makes total sense – is make it character focused. Which on paper straight away causes it to be better for the effort alone. Or it would be if it were not for a few irritating touchstone cliches that the film hits pretty hard (but more on that later).
The lead is Sadie Harper (Sophie Thatcher who played the young Regan in The Exorcist TV Series) – a teenage girl whose mother was killed in a car accident a year earlier.
Her father is a psychiatrist, Will (Chris Messina), who of course deals with the passing of his wife by NOT talking about it with his children, which equals cliché #1 – a psyche doc who is terrible at being a
psychologist to his own family.
Sadie has a younger sister – Sawyer (Viven Lyra Blair – Birdbox) – who can’t sleep at night without a nightlight (and is a bed wetter to boot) and of course is afraid of monsters lurking in her closet. (Although not enough to CLOSE the door and barricade it with a chair or anything… but kids are notorious non-planners).
So what happens to these Harpers? Well, the dad gets a visit from a clearly disturbed man wanting
to make a walk-in appointment – Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian – Boston Strangler) (has there EVAH been a more Stephen King sounding name than “Lester Billings”? :P). Lester tells Will his three children have died. The first from what would appear to be natural but tragic circumstance (SIDS) but the other two… not so much.
So of course, all eyes are now on him ala Kathleen Folbigg (for non-Aussie readers out there, please
feel free to Google) and poor Lester is at his wits end. Especially once he reveals that what he believes killed child 2 and 3 was… not of this world…
Once that’s done – Lester, now that he has served his story purpose – promptly kills himself (or DID
HE…..? Dun dun….blaaaaah!!!) and we are off to the races.
Because of course what’s really at play here is a demon like creature that is visible only in shadow. It
attacks you and makes you seem crazy as it’ll only present itself to victims it targets. After running
through Lester’s kids like a laxative through a colon, it soon finds the Harpers a delicious temptation because it likes to zero in on a family struck by natural tragedy (remember the mum?) since such
pain leaves them “vulnerable” (or sum such) and it wants to feed off their terror. I honestly may
have zoned out at that point, ‘cause when do they don’t do that?
Anyway, the stage is set, from small scares to bigger ones, as Sadie & Sawyer slowly believe the
creature is real …to finding out more about it….to fighting off the scepticism of all the disbelieving
side characters around them (including their dad. Natch).
And of course, we get The Plan to defeat the creature, followed by the inevitable climax as we see if
this film is one where the plan works, or doesn’t, or does, then doesn’t… (you know how the
variables go).
Sadie is ably played by Sophie Thatcher and Sawyer is excellently played by Vivien Lyra Blair.
Sadie has a best friend who is a pretty poor one as she aligns herself with a clique of nasty bullies
straight out of the mean-girl formula playbook, and Lester’s distraught wife provides the movie with
the monster exposition scenes that tell us (in vague terms) what it is, and what can be done to kill it.
Although just once it’d be nice for these sorts of films to break the format and have the demon
creature do its shit in front of cops and a news crew. That way a concerted effort can be made to
capture/kill it by more than a single exhausted & terrified protagonist.
Mind you, in this day & age, even if the media filmed such a creature half the world would instantly
brand it fake news.
Maybe that’s what a really smart Boogeyman would (& should) do? Attack its victim by first
confusing them, and then gaslighting them. Big time.

The Prognosis.

Starts slow. Starts cliched. Starts too hard. But you do stick around to see how it ends.

  • Antony Yee

Movie review: Aged (2023)

16 Friday Jun 2023

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Anubys Lopez (Those Who Call) has been slowly crafting stories that unfold dark and disturbing mysteries for the low budget horror film scene. His sophomore feature, Aged, is no exception building a slow, tense thriller with a harrowing climax. 

There are paranormal elements at play, constantly lurking beneath the surface of the narrative, be it spiritual or fantastical. These facets unfold with bitterness, shifting and changing the audiences’ perspective and leading us to a conclusion that poses questions around your character allegiance. 

Veronica Grey (Morgan Boss-Maltais – Stray) seems to be drifting through life with no clear direction. Her name even suggests how she may have faded from her surroundings, becoming pale in contrast to what life can offer. So when she is offered a temporary job as a caregiver for the elderly Mrs. Bloom (Carla Kidd – Black Widow Murders) from her son Charles (Dave McClain – The Curse of Professor Zardonicus) she reluctantly sets off for the remote abode. When she arrives all appears well, but before too long, the nooks and crannies start to expose a sinister and supernatural force at play.

The Prognosis:

Aged drifts along at a painfully slow pace, and the quiet and solitude of the sound editing echoes with unnerving stillness at the sacrifice of the script. 

The performances are solid, despite the dialogue proving weak in places, there is a powerful conclusion that sparks a strong and definitive resolution.

  • Saul Muerte

Aged is available on streaming platforms from June 15.

Movie review: Brooklyn 45 (2023)

04 Sunday Jun 2023

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I wonder if there will ever be a time when the word Nazi or its image will ever be the go-to for symbolic evil? While WWII was one of the darkest times on human history, the subject is something of a tired cliche and almost lazy int the realms of Horror.

Having said that, I like the approach that Director/writer Ted Geoghegan (We Are Still Here; Mohawk) goes for in order to twist our expectations by trapping his characters in a sealed room during a seance. Not only does this amplify the tension and play with the concept of life in the trenches, but also exposes the darkest secrets through post-war trauma at its heart.

All five characters that unite are military veterans and all have experienced the trepidation of war in their own unique way. So when one of their group, Lt. Col. Clive Hockstatter (Larry Fessenden – Depraved) invites them to his place, in the wake of his wife’s passing, the childhood friends drop it all to be with him. Little do they know that Hockstatter has plans to reunite with his love through the psychic medium of a seance. Once they have opened the portal to the other side, other forces come into play and the group are forced to expose their demons or spend their eternity in psychotic limbo. What extremes will they go to to win ther freedom and at what cost, in this microscopic scrutiny of humanity.

The feature takes some time to ramp up to the seance in question with characters that are a little hard to engage with. It feels a little forced and laboured to get to this point but once it does, the shifts and changes start to resonate and a truly harrowing ordeal lay before them. By the films’ conclusion you’re even left pondering the choices made and whether we can ever be forgiven for our sins. Is redemption possible no matter how disturbing our past actions may be?

The Prognosis:

You have to be patient with this potboiler as it can be quite easy to zone out in the first act. If you stick with it though, an entertaining period crime drama starts to sizzle with nice effects and strong performances from Anne Ramsay, Fessenden and the cast.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: The Black Demon (2023)

03 Saturday Jun 2023

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The Black Demon threatened to dominate the big screen cinemas with its theatrical trailer and megladon of epic proportions tied in with a family under threat vibe. The casting of Josh Lucas as its lead was also a relatively safe choice as he knows how to deliver in front of the camera. Yet the appointment of Director Adrian Grunberg was a worrying one despite being no stranger to action he clearly struggles with a decent execution if Rambo: Last Blood was anything to go by.

Oilman Paul Sturges has grand plans for an idyllic family holiday off the coast of Baja, Mexico whilst combining with a job trip to quality check an oil rig called “El Diamante’. The name given to this derrick should serve as a metaphor for the film; a facade that is all glitz and no glamour.

Likewise Sturges is not all he seems to be, harbouring a secret that has helped fuel the lifestyle that he has provided for his family.

The location itself is one that Sturges and his wife Ines (Fernanda Urrejola) hold strong memories with, having shared some quality time there, but upon arrival they find that it has been run to the ground and unsavoury characters are ruling the roost. 

While the family in peril provides the bait for viewers to hook onto, the mode that we are expected to traverse soon becomes tiresome and predictable and this paint by numbers approach to the story combined with dire dialogue is tiring to watch unfold. While I applaud the idea of the local paganistic views being explored, this theme is saturated by the ecological viewpoints of the writers, who continuously ram them down our throats to the point that you wish they just take us out of our misery with a carefully triggered shot with a strategically placed scuba tank. Instead we’re subjected to painfully overplayed fodder with a mega shark that only casually graces us with an appearance when the tension needs to be mounted. 

The Prognosis:

The films’ creatives need to seriously go back to the drawing board and reevaluate their storytelling methods because this film is seriously going to need a bigger plot. 

The Black Demon slaps its morals and predictable narrative round the face like a… a 60ft gigantic megaladon.

  • Saul Muerte

The Black Demon is in cinemas from June 8th and streaming on VOD from June 21st.

Movie review: Influencer (2023)

27 Saturday May 2023

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Every so often, Shudder releases a smart and provocative feature on its Exclusive and Original platform, and Influence  certainly fits that bill.

Using social media influencers as the basis for contemporary horror isn’t necessarily an original format for a storyline to unfold but its the manner in which Director Kurtis David Harder and his writing partner Tesh Guttikonda weave through the psychological, thriller narrative that resonates so deeply.

We initially follow one of these social media influencers, Madison (Emily Tennant) as she struggles on a backpacking trip in Thailand. Here she meets a coil, calm and collected CW (Cassandra Naud), who despite her pleasant manner, may not as she seems to appear. In fact, the whole premise shifts and changes through perspectives and misconceptions throughout, playing with the audience viewpoint. Each character we’re introduced to have their dark traits, but then show glimpses of light too. As we then follow a murderous personality, we’re left wondering where our allegiance and loyalty should lie.

The prognosis:

There’s more than meets the eye to this mysterious thriller. Beneath the beautiful facade of the Thailand scenery and behind the exterior of the personalities we portray on the social platform is a dark and sinister tale. Cassandra Naud is particularly gripping as the mysterious CW. Surprisingly hooked me into the web of deceit.

  • Saul Muerte

Influencer is currently streaming on Shudder ANZ

Movie review: Renfield (2023)

27 Saturday May 2023

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It is clear when watching Renfield that Director Chris McKay has channelled his comedic knowledge working on Robot Chicken and The Lego Batman movie to produce a film gilled with high energy and tongue firmly planted in cheek.  This in part is due to Robert Kirkman’s (The Walking Dead) pitch following Universal Dark Universe reboot, but box office failure of The Mummy.

Using Bram Stoker’s Dracula as source material novel, the film centres on one of the price of darkness’ familiars, RM Renfield to build a modern setting upon. In the novel itself, Renfield is an important-yet-minor character in the grand scheme of things, but is ripe for exploration into a contemporary perspective.

Set in modern times, our protagonist played by Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) finds himself drained by the everyday/night demands by his master to sustain the food supply and keep his power and strength to its fullest.

Renfield then takes himself to a voluntary self help group of people in codependent relationship with the plan to rid his peers from those who’ve been wronged and bring their abusive partners before Dracula.

A worthwhile plan that rewards his nobleness that is until he meets and falls for police officer Rebecca Quincy (Akwafina). Rebecca is also hellbent on proving her worth in the police community, striding to climb out of the shadows of her father and sister. It is here that thus unlikely duo team up against the forces of evil and stand up to their domineering counterparts.

The Prognosis:

All eyes will no doubt focus on Nicolas Cage’s portrayal of Dracula, which is suitably amped up to the nth degree and with plenty of nods towards Max Shreck and Bela Lugosi incarnations. Cage tips it onto the right side of camp without taking it too much into the extreme.

Nicholas Hoult also taps into bumbling Britism to bring a modern Renfield to the screen and when combined with Akwasfina’s dry wit, a fun, comic journey unfolds between them.

The action sequences are also gory and packed with humour, and decide a fairly mediocre storyline, the afore-mention3d elements allow for a decent flick that does just enough to entertain without being clouded by ridicule

– Saul Muerte

Renfield is currently screening in cinemas nationwide.

Movie review: Huesera: The Bone Woman (2023)

10 Wednesday May 2023

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As Huesera: The Bone Woman opens up, we’re presented with a potentially dark and beautifully twisted journey into the heart of maternity. We’re promised a disturbing representation of this theme through a thinly veiled horror genre, when essentially this is a dramatic tale told from a Mexican folk perspective. What actually transpires is slightly off the mark though.

Valeria (Natalia Solán) has always felt that spiritual yearning to be a mother and at first her picture life appears to be forming nicely along with her partner, Raul (Alfonso Dosal) and cemented further when she learns that she is pregnant. These larger than life emotions soon diminish however and is replaced with one of fear and dread. This is combined with illusions or visions that haunt her waking hour. Are they really a fabric of emotional turmoil or is there a deeper presence at play. As the occult forces appear to be suppressing her, Valeria must find the strength to push through at the cost of her relationships or let go, giving in to the universe.

The Prognosis:

Huesera: The Bone Woman creeps along and wants to offer a horror tale but constantly drifts along without any really connection to the subject matter. The subject of maternity and struggling with coming to terms or accepting that role when we’re told it’s the most natural thing is a difficult one to convey. Director Michelle Garza Cervera does her best to twist and turn through a troubled field, and atmospherically grips hard in places and towards the final moments offers some genuinely terrifying and beautifully shot scenes. Ultimately though we’re left adrift and by the film’s end casually costing off to an unknown horizon.

  • Saul Muerte

Huesera: The Bone Woman is streaming on Shudder ANZ from Thu 11th May.

Movie review: Infinity Pool (2023)

09 Tuesday May 2023

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Movie review: Infinity Pool (2023)

It must be hard to craft your way out from underneath the parental shadow, especially when it carries the name Cronenberg. Cronenberg Snr. has established a venereal horror scene to eviscerate the celluloid senses and cement a sub genre in his own right.

His son Brandon has been slowly ebbing away at this terrain but gradually shifting the focus from the physical body and into the intellect and its impact on the soul of humanity.

Where his freshman feature, Antiviral tapped into a similar vein to his father, exploring the warped world of celebrity status and bacterial infection, his follow up film, Possessor took a step further into the mind with a storyline centred on its infiltration by a secret organisation and the psychological residue left in its wake.

Now, he takes another bold step into the psyche and scrutinises the subject of morality and reasoning as his playground. Cronenberg still dips his toe into familiar waters for Infinity Pool and the vacuous facade of the riches, struggling to paste over their empty lives in the pursuit of feeling. To what extent will they be willing to go to and how long can they sustain this rush before it too ebbs away and reminds them just how insignificant they are?

Set on an isolated island, novelist James (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) are enjoying lapping up life’s pleasures but soon succumb to temptation when they meet the mysterious Gabi (Mia Goth). Lured beyond the realms of the resort they immerse themselves in a world of violence and hedonism but when tragedy strikes they are given an ultimatum. Death or immunity… at a price. And therein paves the way for morals to slide and immortality loom large.  If money can pay your way out of your troubles and there is an exhaustible supply of it, is there any end to the depravity?

The Prognosis:

Where Cronenberg endeavours to explore a clearly passionate subject matter, he loses some essence of what allowed him to shine through in his earlier features. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty on show here for his vision to triumph in places. The theme explored in tainted luxury through sour milk and burnt honey is a creative’s dream. Skarsgård provides the anchor to drive the narrative through, but its Goth who is in her element, providing another avenue to the unhinged mentality that she gloriously embellishes and never fails to disappoint. 

Infinity Pool is a curious delight which may pale in comparison to this writer’s eyes against his other features, but no doubt this attempt is a worthy addition to his canon and will warrant further scrutiny when he gains a weightier backlog. I can’t wait to see what direction Cronenberg goes in next.

Infinity Pool will be screening in cinemas nationwide from Thu May 11th.

Movie review: I’ll Be Watching (2023)

29 Saturday Apr 2023

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This latest home invasion themed movie begins like a made-for-tv feature, but as it flows through the course of events, begins to become entrenched in a more complex and compelling storyline. Part of the draw is through Eliza Taylor’s (The 100) performance of Julie, ebbing with initial frailty through to a broken mind, questioning all her surroundings both physical and mental. 

Julie is an emerging painter who struggles balancing her artistic passion and rise in interest with her family. She has a growing anxiety that consumes her and it is when her sister is killed, Julie’s world spirals. Her marriage is drifting to the state of separation but Julie is bound by her insecurity and need for ‘normality’, so agrees to move into her husband’s (Bob Morley) tech wiz home, isolated from the outside world. It is within these walls that Julie’s fears become paramount, relying on drugs and alcohol as a band-aid to her ailment. 

When her husband leaves for 5 days on business, against their doctor’s (Bryan Batt) wishes, Julie is thrown further into paranoia, consumed further by wild dreams and an adamant belief that someone keeps breaking into her home. Is there more to these delusions? Is her life really in danger? If so, who is behind it all? There are plenty of suspects: Her husband? The mysterious tech guy? Or the mailman? Either way, she becomes more dependent on the computerised Artificial Intelligence system of the homestead named Hera, in the vein of Demon Seed’s Proteus.

The Prognosis:

Something of a mediocre movie that doesn’t offer anything new, except a decent lead performance, a twisty thriller and intrigue to keep you in your seat, not necessarily to the edge of it.

  • Saul Muerte

I’ll Be Watching is available on streaming digital platforms from May 2.