EvilPhoEniX

The sequel to the Korean remake of Believer (the original is from China, Drug War) has arrived on Netflix, and so far it's been getting people talking. It's not too bad, but it's a bit weak by Korean standards. We have a detective looking for a big drug gang who distribute the drug Laika, but the plot is so weirdly put together that it doesn't always make complete sense. There's no real twist, in short the plot is secondary (it's definitely not a typical Korean film through and through), but on the one hand I like the drug mafia setting, there are some pretty interesting and memorable characters (an interesting female villain), and the erotic action is also nice. There are no fights, but the shootouts are pretty bloody and have a nice edge, they are nice and uncompromising and raw, which counts. At times it looks unintentionally cheap (the jungle chase), but otherwise I have no problem with the film. It goes by fairly quickly (although the last half hour was already unnecessarily lengthy and the big finale comes half an hour early). As a simple action B-movie with nice bloody action, it's better than any other American-made B-movie, but it's not a quality Korean standard. 6/10.

An even bigger cracker than I was hoping for. Eli Roth has made his best horror film and his best slasher in quite possibly a decade. A vicious carnage that puts all the Screams, Halloweens, Fridays the 13th, all the PG-13 slashers and all the wannabe meta slashers to shame. The film doesn't try to bring anything new to the genre, it just works with what's proven, but it's so fan-friendly that everything is done with a love for the genre, and I enjoyed the whole thing immensely. Just the setting alone in the famous American holiday of Thanksgiving is very cool and more enjoyable than Halloween or Christmas. Anyway, here's to a great slasher franchise, which I hope this will be. The very opening opening sequence, which I'd call the Black Friday opening gory madness, will a legendary scene in the horror archive that will earn the film a cult status. Let's move on to the individual elements, where I won't spare any praise. The Killer is perfect, with amazing design and costume, an iconic character who has skill and the set-ups are amazing. To my surprise the reveal of the killer and his motive works, which I also applaud. It's packed with hyperbole and a nice dark humor. It also works well as a whodunit about the hunt for a serial killer, where we follow a little investigative work. It's nice that the target is not just the central group of teenagers, but a host of other supporting characters. The city is consumed by terror and no one is safe. The body-count is decently high. I must also praise the well dosed jump-scares, one of them almost gave me a heart attack, and is one of the best this year (shame on all the ghost movies, when a slasher is doing a better jump-scare job). I also liked the retro 80's feel and the characters are cool too (the main character is really cute and hot). I must also highlight the fact that it's not completely silly. The behaviour of the characters is definitely more natural than in other slasher horror movies. And now the main thing , the gore and the execution of the murders is top notch. Here Eli Roth is really unleashed and all the murders have a twist, they are properly brutal, very creative, literally unpleasant and very nasty sometimes. He uses a variety of weapons and fatalities and I really enjoyed all the kills. There were guts, hammering, frying alive, scalps, decapitations, severed fingers, in short something from everyone and it's great. The finale with the dinner is also interesting, though I think the potential could have been used a bit better, it pointed to the ultimate torture mayhem, but stayed halfway, too bad, there could have been two legendary scenes in one movie, you just don't see that. Of course, there's plenty of tension and the whole thing is so much fun that when it's over you want to watch it all over again. 8.5/10.

A surprisingly enjoyable horror thriller working with a familiar template, and even if it doesn't try to bring anything new, it works fine. I like these movies where a stranger shows up outside a house in the middle of nowhere at night looking for help and you don’t quite know who to trust at first, who's evil and who has what plans. A mother, a daughter and a sick father are disturbed by two guys during the night. One of them is injured and looking for help and I won't tell you more. Filmed decently, the acting is fine, and there are a few surprises (some expected, some unexpected). It really holds the attention and and keeps the viewer suspenseful as to how it all turns out, which counts. The ending is sharp too, so that's fine. Add some proper gore and I wouldn't hesitate to rate it higher, but it's worth a watch for those who like films like this. 6/10.