THE STORY:
Best friends Becky and Susan, played by Gemma-Leah Devereux and Rebecca Night, go on a hiking holiday only to be drawn in and seduced by handsome stranger, Chris (Callum Blue).  As echoes of a long-forgotten past plague Becky’s mind, their new male companion may have his own agenda that threatens to spoil their girly getaway.
 
It’s cool to witness Dartmoor for the beautiful landscape that it actually is, as opposed to the deadly, fog-filled terrain portrayed in Hammer Horror’s 1959 adaption of The Hound of the Baskervilles.  So beautiful, in fact, that the film’s scares, though few in number, fail miserably.  The contrasting atmosphere allows director Nicholson the perfect setup to try for the unpredictable, only to result in a handful of laughable and wasted opportunities.  It’s a trick that has been infamously achieved in some of horror’s best twist endings, with scenes such as Jason in the lake, Carrie’s hand from the grave and even Freddy pulling Nancy’s mother through the front door.  If they can do it…
 
There’s no surprise that TV documentarian Nicholson will have a keen eye for the perfect wide shot, but the editing that comes into play when Becky’s flashbacks act up begs the question if he has ever actually seen… any other style of movie… ever…  As well-filmed and picturesque as Dartmoor has turned out, it gleams at you with the horribly misguided assumption of someone who thinks they know what they’re doing, when they really don’t have a fucking clue.
 
LAST WORDS:
The actors do well enough with what they are given, but sadly Dartmoor is neither interesting nor efficient enough to be worth your time.  But if you want to see Callum Blue get his arse out, yet again, that’s your prerogative.  There are two lessons to be learned here.  Readers: stick with films made by film-makers.  And documentarians: stick with what you know.

​THE STORY:
In Brian O’Malley’s Let Us Prey, a mysterious stranger by the name of Six (Liam Cunningham) rises out of the unquiet seas and spends the night in a little Scottish jail, picking off souls.  But his quota doesn’t just include those behind bars… 
 
Leave it to the UK to choose Halloween time to rise from the ashes.  The situation isn’t all doom and gloom, but if the boring Blackwood (2014), the uneven Scar Tissue (2013) or the laughably weak Cutting Room (2015) are of any indication – we’ve had a pretty shit year for British horror.  But every tide must turn, as I have been waiting for Let Us Prey to grace us with a DVD release since I saw it a year ago on the opening night of Grimmfest 2014.  It had some stiff competition from the hilarious Suburban Gothic as well as outstanding short film The Herd, directed by Melanie Light. 
 
Poor Pollyanna McIntosh: this gorgeous hard-ass wore out her welcome before she even arrived as she shares the graveyard shift with two lowlife co-workers at the station.  Remaining steadfastly stiff-upper lipped and takin’ no shit from nobody, she quickly solidifies herself at the formidable Ellen Ripley type.
 
The fact that the bulk of the cast are a crew of unsympathetic lawbreakers whose crimes range from the tragic to the downright unspeakable leaves little to no room for potential likability.  In effect, the Six character becomes less frightening, like a Hannibal Lecter that doesn’t eat people, you see him as a sort of moral janitor.
 
Despite being the identical movie twin of Robert Englund’s Inkubus (2011), Let Us Prey is the stronger of the two, being far less hammier with much better acting.  Once Six is out of the cage the third act takes a wrong turn into slasher territory where the kills are concerned, but quickly resumes its rightful course. 
 
LAST WORDS:
There is a lot of darkness in Let Us Prey, but it wouldn’t a proper British horror film without a healthy sense of humour.  We saved the best for last this year.  However, it would be refreshing to see us produce a movie that can stand as tall as Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2002) or Neil Marshall’s The Descent (2005).  Here’s hoping 2016 will be our year!  

Videodrome (1983) directed by David Cronenberg was the first I saw from the Canadian auteur on a late BBC 2 Sunday night showing on the much missed “Moviedrome” presented by Mark Cousins at an age when I should have been  sleeping for the school week ahead not watching this brilliant subversive horror tale.

Max Renn (James Woods in a career best performance) president of CIVIC-TV, a UHF television station in Toronto that specializes in sensationalistic programming the type of shows channel 4 & 5 used to get away with in the 90s. Max visits Harlan (Peter Dvorsky), who operates the channels pirate satellite dish which has intercepted plotless show “Videodrome” from “Malaysia” (it's actually coming from Pittsburgh) which depicts the brutal torture and murder of anonymous victims in a reddish-orange chamber which Max believes could to be the future of television much like “Big Brother was seen at its fruition.

Max appears on a talk show with multi tasking sadomasochistic/psychiatrist/ radio host Nicki Brand (Debbie Harry of Blondie) alongside Professor Brian O'Blivion (Jack Creley) who will only appear on television from a remote location where he delivers a speech prophesying a future in which television supplants real life. This TV appearance leads to a relationship  between and Nicki is turned on by an episode he shows her of Videodrome.

After Nikki fails to returns back to Toronto after visiting Pittsburgh to audition under the guise of a business trip for the show max goes to investigate the station trying to information from everyone he knows from softcore feminist pornographer Masha (Lynne Gorman), a softcore feminist pornographer to professor's O'Blivion's homeless mission running daughter, Bianca (Sonja Smits) a woman with the goal of helping to bring about her father's vision of a world in which television replaces every aspect of everyday life. Later, Max views a videotape in which O'Blivion informs him that the Videodrome "is a socio-political battleground in which a war is being fought for control of the minds of the people of North America".

Max is told by Bianca videodrome causes viewers to develop side effects which leads to Renn being brainwashed into Max kills his colleagues at CIVIC-TV, attempt to kill Bianca,murders the head of Spectacular Optical, Barry Convex (Leslie Carlson) at a trade show  and ultimately himself after speaking the fateful words "Long live the new flesh".

This release from Arrow video gives viewers a chance to enjoy this brilliant intelligent sci fi horror classic from David Cronenberg in a gorgeous looking HD with a well stocked set of extra materials from the commentary by Tim Lucas who discusses the film in great detail along with his personal experiences of visiting the production as it was shot,several documentaries, deleted scenes and trailers.
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It's amazing how Videodrome was ahead of its time and is more pertinent today in how all sorts of video material from around the world is affecting people's thoughts and emotions.

The Hobbit Trilogy is one of those Mar mite type of films, you either love it or loath it. I for one actually enjoy this trilogy, it flows well into the Lord of the Rings trilogy and as someone who hasn't actually read the book I would never had noticed the fact they have dragged out such a small kids book into a three film epic.

 Now this is my third time watching Battle of the Five Armies, First being the original release at the cinema and the second being during the EPIC marathon of all 6 of the films back to back (very fun click here to see if you could find tickets for the next one), but this time I am delving into the extended edition of the film. With an extra 20+ minutes of extra scenes the film  feels alot more full. This was the shortest of the Hobbit Films so i am glad that we get more action in this action packed film.

The film itself, as i have never reviewed this for some reason, is more or less a film of the battle, which may not be as epic as the battles in LOTR's but it is still an amazing visual battle which keeps the viewer hooked all the way through. We get to see the mental decline of Oakenshield who is looking for the arkenstone, we have the build into the  LOTR of the rings trilogy, the battle for the mountain and a heavily CGI'd Bill Connelly.....okay so the film isn't perfect but as a whole Battle of the Five Armies is a perfect finale to what is a great trilogy . The only part that pisses me off a little is the fact that for two films Smaug is billed as the main villain only to be taken out within the first 20 minutes of the film....even with an extended scene.

As always the Blu-Ray is packed to the gills with extra features which will please the avid collectors of the extended editions. The 3D element is AMAZING even while watching at home and the case for the set sits perfectly next to the extended editions of all 6 films.

A perfect gift for Hobbit fans this Christmas.