**POSSIBLE SPOILERS**

Horror comedy ‘Eat Locals’ is actor Jason Flemyng’s directorial debut about a group of vampires who gather for a meeting that occurs once every 50 years, but is disrupted when Sebastian (a human who is clueless to the real reason he’s there) and soldiers who are ordered to hunt “cold bodies” get involved. There’s many recognisable faces from British television in the film such as Freema Agyeman, Eve Myles, Ruth Jones and Mackenzie Crook – and perhaps most surprisingly, Charlie Cox.

Although I enjoyed the film overall, the tone is all over the place as there isn’t much balance between the horror and comedy elements in my opinion. Some parts are serious – particularly at the beginning of the film which convinces you that the film will be serious (even a little boring…I just felt that it went on a bit too long at the start). Then it brings in comedy through Sebastian’s character that really contrasts with the tone that it just took the time to establish. It could have been a bit more focused in this sense, but I still think the film is a good start for Flemyng if he plans on making more films.

One thing that bothered me the most was Larousse, Mackenzie Crook’s character. Not so much the writing as the acting – he kind of seemed like he didn’t want to be there and could have done a lot better, or maybe he just wasn’t suited to the role. Considering the character’s motivation is unclear until the end, it required a strong performance and could have made for a far more interesting character. Furthermore, Angel (played by Agyeman) could have had more backstory and development through the writing; Henry (Cox) and Boniface (Tony Curran) had stronger senses of character conveyed through dialogue in comparison. However, I would actually like to see more of Henry’s character in a prequel with a darker tone, as Cox gave a good performance and was the most intriguing.
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Despite its drawbacks, ‘Eat Locals’ was a good starting point for Flemyng to pursue a career in directing, and it seems like he had fun with it as the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. I would actually be interested in seeing a more focused sequel to the film – or even better, as I mentioned, a prequel for Henry’s backstory.  

EAT LOCALS Premiered at FrightFest 2017 and will be in Selected Cinemas and PVOD from 1st September & VOD/DVD from 30th October @Eat_Locals_Film

So, what can I say about Bonejangles, quite alot actually and most of it bad. Ok, so I was slightly intrigued after reading the concept, unstoppable killing machine takes on the undead but man this movie was a damp squid.

The set-up goes like this, Bonejangles is a known serial killer but due to him being unstoppable against attack he is free to walk the streets killing hundreds of people. Now, the intial set-up of a task force catching Bonejangles is absolutely hilarious, are we actually suppose to believe these people are cops?! The job advert must of said "stoners only". After using an electric shock tactic our mis-cast team of police have to transport Bonejangles across country to a place called Argento (see what they did there?), unbeknowest to them that the town of Argento has been cursed by a Witch and once a year a ritual of death and dismemberment takes place. Once the ravished sex slaves are unleashed our heros have no choice but to release the ultimate weapon - Bonejangles.

The movie boasts the talents of horror vet Reggie Bannister, who only has a few minutes of screen time the entire movie, which left me feeling a bit cheated if i'm honest. There is no one else of note that you would recognize and the acting is sub-par, even for a movie this trashy. So, the important stuff are there any good kills? well sadly the answer is no, most of the action takes place off camera (you, guitar smash kill!!) and when we are treated to some gore the CGI is terrible. There is one funny moment when one of the characters goes all Ash from Evil Dead but unfortuntely ends up putting the chainsaw through his own head! Again though the effects let this scene down in the end.

​As you have probably picked up in the above, there are lots of in your face horror shout outs, one of our characters is named after our very own Michael Myers and with the above Argento & Evil Dead mentions it's all a bit forced and begging. I wanted to like this movie and Bonejangles was a cool character but i'd rather spend a romantic night with the Witch of Argento than watch this movie again.

Kurt Angle is back in the WWE, It's true, it's DAMN true. The olympic hero was one of the biggest names in WWE during the late half of the Attitude era and the Ruthless Aggression era of WWE and has had some amazing matches during his time with the company.

The Essential Collection is...well a collection of these matches that include a bit of description before the matches from Angle himself. The set includes the amazing street fight match King of The Ring encounter between Kurt and Shane McMahon from 2001, His epic match with a Stone Cold at Unforgiven (which is still brilliant today) and his 30 Minute Iron Man match from a 2005 edition of Raw against the Heartbreak Kid.

This collection is FULL to the brim with amazing matches that will keep any WWE fan entertained for hours. I loved the Unforgiven match Against Stone Cold, one of the hard hitting matches from the so so invasion year but one match I really enjoyed reliving was the Summerslam  match against Brock Lesner where Kurt injures his neck in a horrifi neck bump on the turnbunkle.

This is a brilliant collection. The commentary before the matches with Kurt is interesting, filling in the story behind each encounter very well.  This is a perfect way to reintroduce or introduce fans to the work of a legend. 

‘13 Demons’ is best described as a thriller with a plot that resembles that of ‘Jumanji’ – however, it is aware of the comparison that can be made and is different enough to not feel like a rip-off. Three friends play a medieval themed game from the 70s that was rumoured to have made players so obsessed with it that they believed they were the characters from the game and murdered anyone they thought were demons. The film begins with a police interrogation and most of the story is told in flashback. Thankfully, cutting from the flashbacks to the interrogation isn’t something that happens very often as it is mostly used to begin and end the film, so it isn’t distracting which can sometimes be the case.

I feel like I shouldn’t have enjoyed this film as much as I did. It’s ridiculous and although the acting isn’t always great (which can be expected from a low budget film such as this), it’s good enough to be entertaining. Watching the characters become more obsessed and crazy over time was a lot of fun, especially as they start sounding more medieval. The actors probably had a great time delivering that dialogue and it genuinely made me laugh a few times.

It’s also worth mentioning that the editing during the hallucination scenes was interesting. It did a good job showing the characters’ warped reality and used some cool effects. On a technical level, it did a good job overall and did better than I expected it would, with only a couple of problems with audio that weren’t too noticeable and didn’t affect my enjoyment of the film. Furthermore, I wasn’t sure if I liked the ending at first and thought that it could have been more eventful, but after some thought I decided it’s good the way it is as it isn’t too over-the-top. Ultimately this is an entertaining film that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is more enjoyable because of that. It’s a short, fun watch that doesn’t drag on for longer than it needs to.

Andy Serkis is a tremendously talented man. First there was Gollum in Lord of the Rings, then there was King Kong and then came Rise of the Planet of the Apes and two sequels followed. He is the man that introduced us to performance capture technology that kicked normal CGI out of the water and made computer generated creatures look more realistic than ever. As well as acting he has now converted this into his very own studio in London. So with the third - and potentially final – feature in the Apes very successful trilogy just hitting theatres now, it was sure to be met with much anticipation and expectation.

The film takes place 15 years after the Simian Flu spread across the globe killing billions in its path. Caesar (Andy Serkis) has tried to maintain peace between the apes and the humans but after Koba (Toby Kebbel) betrayed his fellow apes and brought on the dawn of a new conflict it has been impossible to keep the humans from rising up against them. So a new War has begun and the apes are hiding out in the woods until an evil Colonel (a chilling Woody Harrelson) and his men force them into a fatal conflict.

The trilogy as a whole is one of the strongest in years and if this is the last one it is a perfect way to close it. Matt Reeves (who also directed Dawn) has crafted another stunningly shot, brilliantly written, awe-inspiring film that draws you in and keeps you engaged until the very end. Andy Serkis and his fellow actors’ do a fantastic job of once again making you feel like you are witnessing real apes and it makes you sympathise with them even more as they desperately try to break free from the War and live a peaceful life.

As well as Serkis there are some other terrific turns, one of which is newcomer Amiah Miller who plays the young girl Caeser as his companions come across and take under their wing. She is charismatic and gives an honest performance as another soul caught up in the midst of this angry battle. Another fantastic addition is Steve Zahn as Bad Ape; a terrific character they bump into in the wilderness. It’s almost like Zahn was meant to play this part because his voice is perfect for it and he’s comical and funny, giving a lighter edge to the dark tone of the film which balances it out nicely.

​Woody Harrelson really stands out here and gives a frightening and edgy performance as The Colonel. He gives off shades of Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now and R Lee Ermy in Full Metal Jacket but really makes the role his own and delivers some exceptional lines of dialogue. Of course Serkis is the real hero here as our favourite ape Caeser; he is brave and bold, fierce but loveable and we can’t help but root for him every step of the way. This is his story and he sure does own it! There is simply nothing I can fault with this film and nothing I would change. It is tense, engaging, jaw dropping and even humorous at times. If there is a dry eye in the audience by the end I’ll be surprised because this one had me in floods of tears! ​

Ok, so the first thing you notice about this movie is the no nonsense title, even without reading the synopsis I could kinda guess what sort of annoying characters I would be spending the next 80 minutes with and I wasn't to be disappointed.

WTF boasts the main plot line of possibly the most popular sub-genre in horror, cabin in the woods slasher! Movies like this seem the go to when directors are first starting out and as long as you have some inventive kills the rest is by the by. I can't say I had heard of the director before but I like to do a bit of research so I read up about the production company Cthulu Crush, although they are a budget studio out in California it was clear that they had a love for the horror game and wanted to try and create something different, using a well worn formula.

The premise is slightly different from the usual slasher in the sense that we have Rachel, a young girl who was the sole survivor of a cabin in the woods style massacre three years earlier. Just has Rachel seems to be finding her place in the world again her new friends suggest a weekend of debauchery in the woods, naturally she agrees to go, what could go wrong!?

I can't say i'm familiar with any of the cast, although the name Perez Hilton does ring a bell with me for some reason. The acting on the most part is pretty standard low budget stuff, however Benjamin Norris did stand out and is probably one to watch, he manages to play the stoner/least likely hero part quite well and I did find the movie more boring during scenes he wasn't in. Most people will probably find the cast stereotypical and unlikeable but it's what you come to expect in these movies, we have the usual jock, nerd, prom queen team and when the blood shed starts no one is really safe.

There are two kills in this movie that are pretty cool and the effects work is pretty spot on but unfortunately you can't build a movie around castration and awesome face burn, there are a lot more factors that make up a good movie and just because you have some gruesome kills doesn't mean you can leave things like character development at the door.

​I won't go too much more into it, the film does have a twist that probably played out better in the mind of the creator than how it translated on screen but overrall it's an average effort that I would be in no rush to watch again.

‘3 Hours till Dead’ is an indie zombie film about an AWOL soldier who, along with his friends on their way home from a camping trip, comes across a farm and are forced to hide out there when they’re attacked by the living dead. It’s filmed in the style of ’28 Days Later’ with a shaky handheld camera look, which works well for the tone. Although it contains some clichés from the zombie genre (they’re hard to avoid at this point), it does bring something new to the genre as the zombies can only live for a certain amount of time – for 3 hours, I’m guessing, but the rules of the film aren’t exactly made clear. It would have been better to establish it earlier on in the film but it’s still an interesting concept, it just could have been handled better and explored more as it seems like it wasn’t fully thought out.

Although some of the acting wasn’t so great – especially from Hans Potter as Stu – Vladimir Zaric as Joe stood out as someone to look out for in the future. After looking the film up on iMDb, it turns out this is only his second film which makes his performance even more impressive. It’s also important to bear in mind that the film was partially funded by an Indiegogo campaign, and it appears that the actors and crew volunteered to work on the film. Furthermore, to be fair to Hans and some of the other actors, the writing wasn’t always that great which probably affected some of the performances. For example, there’s one scene in the car early in the film that completely lacks subtlety and just offers up the backstory for Stu and Joe. It feels incredibly awkward and forced, and this part especially could have been presented in a less obvious way.
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I enjoyed this film far more than I thought I would, and there are some great moments, particularly in terms of cinematography. The effort that went into making such a low budget film is apparent despite there being some problems with it (mostly with the writing and some of the acting), and the limitations of location and other independent filmmaking problems are handled well. It’s also worth mentioning that the zombie make-up is done brilliantly and looks very realistic – and very gross. If you’re a fan of the zombie genre and want to see something that tries to be a little different without being too gimmicky, it’s worth watching even if just out of curiosity.  

After the disaster of Cars 2 I went into Cars 3 very apprehensive. I really disliked the second installment, and if it wasn't a pixar title I may have even sat this one out. HOWEVER what got me into this one in the first place was the amazing trailer. There was something about this trailer that spoke to me as a film fan, and that was that Cars 3 was basically Rocky Balboa but with Lightning McQueen in the Rocky role, but as the film started to take place you soon realise this is way more than a sequel, this is the the true follow up to the original Cars, it is one of those films that just wipes out other films in the series and fixes the dire mistakes made before. This is the true Cars 2, and what a bloody amazing film it is.

After suffering several losses to the hot new racer on the block, Jackson Storm, Lightning McQueen pushes himself to far and suffers a devastating crash which threatens to end his racing career for good. Refusing to give in Lightning makes it his mission to train in the same way as Storm at the newly refurbished Rusteeze training facility where he is treated as old and run down by trainer Cruz Ramirez and new Rusteeze owner Sterling. With Sterling wanting McQueen to think of his legacy after racing Lighting agrees that if he losses his next race he will quit racing and retire. Lightning, with the help of Cruz go old school, training the way the legends before him trained, while opening Cruz's eyes to a world she once thought was out of reach.

This is Rocky Balboa meets Creed in so many ways, it is the legend teaching the new generation and it is PERFECT. I love this film, and I love this film so much is has knocked down The Lego Batman film from it's top spot of the best animated films of 2017 so far. I never thought Pixar could fix the mistakes of Cars 2 but I was wrong. I would love to see a fourth installment after this film (Cars 4: Cruz Control anyone?)

The films is full of laughs, full of action packed racing but most of all Cars 3 looks bloody beautiful. Visually this is probably the best looking Pixar film of recent times. The race scenes look stunning, the pan of the race track at the start looks breathtaking and you get so many wonderful shots throughout it is truly a sight to see.

As for favorite moments I love the demolition derby scene. Found it bloody funny and real fun. Cars 3 will without a doubt be one of the top animated films of the summer and has already destroyed Despicable Me 3 right out of the gate. I really wouldn't want to be The Emoji Movie and Ninjago right now.