From Joe Berlinger, the director of the popular Netflix documentary series The Ted Bundy Tapes and The Paradise Lost trilogy, comes the story of the life of Ted Bundy through the eyes of his long term partner Elizabeth Kendall.

The film follows the lead up to Bundy's arrest while showing the other face he shows Kendall instead of focusing on the murders themselves. A route which you wouldn't have thought would have worked, in a way glamorising the man, however the film was very sensitively done. Bundy wasn't  your typical killer, in real life he came across a handsome, guy next door type of guy which is the man Liz sees in him, while deep down knowing there was something not right but not wanting to admit to herself that the man she loves could do such horrid acts. Lilly Collins plays the role of Elizabeth Kendall so passionately, you could understand why she thought Bundy was such a nice guy. You felt the characters inner pain, the grief of his actions and this is only seconded by the amazing performance from Zac Effron.

Effron fitted into the role of Ted Bundy perfectly, which is showcased more when you see the real life footage at the end of the film. He managed to get into the mindset of someone you just wouldn't want to get into. Zac is generally a charismatic actor but I truly think this is going to shoot him into some more dramatic roles in the future. One actor I was shocked to see in this was a chubbier fully grown Haley Joel Osment who I honestly haven't seen in a film since The Sixth Sense and A.I. and he was pretty damn good, playing the boyfriend who has to watch as Liz goes through the ringer during the court-case.

One shocking moment for me, knowing the parts they don't really mention much in either the doc and the film is the line Liz says at the end asking what had happened to one of victims heads, finally making Ted reveal his true evil to her. Now if you don't know Ted Bundy was a Necrophile and it was documented that he did sexual acts to the severed heads of some of the victims. It send a genuine shiver up my spine.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile may be a subtle film that on the outside paints Ted Bundy as a heartthrob but don't get the film wrong this isn't what they are trying to do. Joe Berlinger has crafted a heartbreaking story from the eyes of a woman who only saw a loving family man who took her and her young daughter into his life and treated them with nothing but love, only to find out, like many families of sickening killers (BTK is a great example), that he is pure evil in the form of a handsome devilman. 

This film has hit the top of my list of best films of 2019 so far and showcases Efrons' amazing acting skill while showing a different side to the real life of serial killers and the peoples lives they destroy.

We’ve seen the possessive, jealous, stalker type thriller before in many different forms and it’s a fun sub-genre but it’s difficult to bring something fresh to the table. Neil Jordan’s new venture takes this and tries to spin it on its head and manages to deliver that to some extent. We’d expect something of a certain standard from the man who brought us brilliant films like Interview with the Vampire and The Crying Game and while this may not be his finest hour, it’s an entertaining hour and forty minutes and one you won’t have to concentrate too intently on.

​Chloe Grace Moretz plays Frances McCullen who lives in New York with her friend Erica Penn (Maika Monroe) and works as a waitress. One day she finds a bag that has been left by someone on the subway and she tracks down its owner and returns it to a lady called Greta Hideg (an unnerving Isabelle Huppert). Greta is extremely grateful, invites Frances in for tea and soon they become friends. However, this is no ordinary friendship and before long Frances realises that Greta isn’t quite who she thinks she is and she’s got something much darker in mind for Frances.

Moretz is great as usual and is solid in delivering a performance of a grounded, yet scared young woman who actually attempts to fight back in her situation rather than run away. Monroe provides good support as Frances’s friend and housemate Erica but it is Huppert who really steals the show here. Not only is she creepy and disconcerting but she’s rather hilarious in some scenes where she goes way over the top and you can tell she had lots of fun with this role. There is a particular scene towards the end which had me in stitches; whether that was Jordan’s intention or not it unclear.

There are some jump scares and excessive use of the zoom in shot here which are a bit farfetched at times but nonetheless entertaining. Something that was also quite shocking were some unforeseen moments of graphic gore and blood which were a refreshing surprise, seeing as many films of late shy away from violence in a horror or thriller. As already mentioned, we’ve all seen variations of this story before and it’s not the best Neil Jordan film by a longshot nor is it the most original story but it is a tense, thrilling slice of the sub-genre and it would certainly go down a treat on a Saturday night! ​

‘Evil Dead 2’ (1987) is one of those rare cases of the sequel being better than the original, and is also unique in how it’s a combination of a remake of the story from the first film and a sequel at the same time due to an issue with reclaiming the rights to ‘The Evil dead’ (1981). Throughout this film and the third in the trilogy, ‘Army of Darkness’ (1992), continuity takes a backseat and the spectacle of horror takes over. Even in the recent TV show continuation ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ (2015-2018), it’s not initially entirely clear what is considered canon in the film’s universe; but the amazing thing that writer/director Sam Raimi does is makes it so entertaining that it doesn’t matter. He didn’t give a damn if he was breaking all the rules, he was just a kid who wanted to make a movie with his friends.

As opposed to the first film where it began with a group of friends, ‘Evil Dead 2’ begins with Ash going to an abandoned cabin in the woods with his girlfriend Linda. However, after finding a tape recording that unleashes the evil dead (or deadites) that can possess the living, Ash finds himself fighting for his life along with a journalist researching a book of evil (Annie, played by Sarah Berry) and hillbillies Jake and Bobby Joe (Dan Hicks and Kassie Wesley DePaiva). Whereas ‘The Evil Dead’ leans more towards horror, and ‘Army of Darkness’ is more comedy, ‘Evil Dead 2’ is, as far as I’m concerned, possibly the best example of how to combine the two perfectly.

Raimi mixes slapstick and dark humour with the scares, creating an absurd atmosphere that he has since managed to recreate in ‘Drag Me to Hell’ (2009) that remains just as entertaining with every viewing. However, none of this could have worked half as well if Bruce Campbell hadn’t been cast as Ash. Although in the first film he doesn’t seem to particularly stand out amongst the group, Campbell really manages to come into his own in this film and find his feet (not always literally, however, as he’s always falling over), and brings an incredible physicality to the role. He was clearly dedicated and not afraid to throw himself around for the sake of art.

As for the special effects, a lot of people seem to find them outdated, however I think that the stop motion mixed in with the live action adds a certain charm, and also heightens the sense of absurdity in the film as a whole. I of course couldn’t go without also mentioning Raimi’s dynamic camerawork – most people have heard of the iconic ‘Evil Dead shot’ of the camera gliding through the woods towards the cabin, searching for victims, and that’s just for starters. It all goes to show the knack for visual style that he’s always had from the beginning of his career, and that a low budget and difficult filming process couldn’t trump his passion and talent for filmmaking.

Overall, I think this is not only one of the best horror films of all time, but one of the best films period. What was achieved from ‘The Evil Dead’ when it was so difficult to finance and film was already incredible, but to go on and make an even better sequel that would be loved and appreciated by the horror community for generations is another thing. It’s a brilliant display of how every element of filmmaking is important – from the acting, editing, directing, script, sound design etc – and doing all these things well together can elevate the experience for the audience to another level.

​‘Videoman’ isn’t a horror film but will definitely be a hit with some fans of the genre. The film follows Ennio (Stefan Sauk), an obsessed VHS collector with a love for Giallo who gets his hands on a rare copy of ‘Zombie’ thanks to Simone (Lena Nilsson). An anonymous collector finds out he has the copy and offers to buy it for substantial price – however, ‘Videoman’ turns into somewhat of a thriller when Ennio loses the tape and his paranoia increases as he attempts to find who took it before the strict deadline that’s set for him. Meanwhile, romance blooms between him and the equally nostalgic Simone, who’s desperate to reconnect with her daughter and to be seen by others. Firstly, I really enjoyed the 80s synth aesthetic of the film – Ennio’s scenes in his rental shop are surreal, often tinted with blue and pink light that visually emphasises his living in the past and it has a good 80s inspired score.

Writer/director Kristian A. Soderstrom manages to balance nostalgia and references to Italian horror that appeal to audiences in the horror community within a cautionary tale of the dangers of it without seeming hypocritical. There’s also some interesting topics brought up around the nature of collecting and how we look back with rose-tinted glasses, with one character claiming that he never watches VHS anymore because the quality is terrible while surrounded by his collection of tapes. The past becomes a commodity.

There’s a hint of tragedy throughout the film as we watched Ennio and Simone yearning for
better days gone by, but there’s some hope in their relationship. It’s not perfect by any
means, but it gives them a reason to stop looking back and seeing these flawed characters
having a good time together is sweet. The best moments are when they’re together. They
feel grounded and real – they both struggle to deal with their addictions but ultimately, they
care about each other. Will they overcome their problems and start fresh together? Call me
an optimist, but I’d like to think so.

​Overall, I really enjoyed ‘Videoman’ with its flawed characters and themes surrounding the
dangers of nostalgia. While you may initially think this is a downbeat and cynical film, it
leaves the door open for new beginnings. This is Soderstrom’s first feature film after some
shorts – he also wrote and edited ‘Videoman’ himself which is impressive – so I’m very
excited to see what he does in the future.

Lake Placid: Legacy (2018) is the latest instalment/reopening of the Lake Placid franchise, directed by Darrell Roodt. The film follows a group of activists who, after being lured into one more job to uncover government secrets, must fight for survival from what they find. Legacy is a made for TV film, originally airing on the Syfy channel. Now when you hear ‘made for TV film’ a certain image starts to form in your mind, for good or bad; this image is solidified when you then hear ‘Syfy channel’. Usually without fail you’d expect a ‘so bad it’s good’ creature feature with cheesy CGI and hilarious acting. This is what I was wholly expecting from Legacy, however it actually exceeded my expectations (in a good way) and delivered a lot more.

First off, the story, although not overly original, is an interesting way to reopen the franchise. It doesn’t try to convolute itself with explanations and references to past films, nor does it overdo the horror - blasting the audience with incessant screams and splattering them with blood - instead focusing on delivering a clear and easy to follow movie with a beginning, middle and end. Furthermore, the characters are all largely likeable (even the token arsehole isn’t that bad), and the acting isn’t too shabby, which allows the audience to actually care when they start getting picked off one by one. Essentially, unlike what you’d expect from a film like this Legacy isn’t a poorly made bloodbath (literally), instead it is relatively well-crafted and it is evident that care went into making it.

Moreover, this care is shown particularly in their use of the crocodile (if you didn’t already know, the creature terrorising our characters). As a made for TV movie the budget obviously isn’t very large hence the CGI is a tad poor, however what I found so great about Legacy is that it knew what it had, it knew its limits and it used them to its advantage. Some may argue that they didn’t show enough of the creature, however honestly with the more serious direction they took this film in nothing would’ve ruined it more than constantly seeing a very clearly fake crocodile on screen. In my opinion, by showing the crocodile only through quick snippets, close-ups and for a large portion of the film only allowing us to hear it’s snarls added to the sense of a looming threat out to get these characters, which helped a lot by creating a real sense of tension. One of my favourite shots of the movie is when one of the characters sacrifices herself by luring the croc down a tunnel with a flare – this creates a beautiful red light to the shot which slowly fades to black as the camera equally as slow pans from only a bit of the crocodile’s face to the terrified look of our character. As I said, care went into making this film and it shows.

In conclusion, if you are a fan of the franchise, or of creature feature films in general I hope you will like this film. It reopens the franchise in a more serious way without being pretentious, and succeeds in being one of the better films (and best made films) of this certain persuasion/sub-genre. I was very pleasantly surprised and would definitely recommend it.

UFO (2018) is a sci-fi, thriller film, directed by Ryan Eslinger. The film focuses on a college student’s obsession with the search for the truth following a recent UFO sighting.

Story-wise UFO would’ve made more for a better short film than a full film – the “action” starts off way too quickly and not a lot really seems to happen to justify the one and a half hour length, however take the premise and the interesting bits that do happen, condense it to 30 mins and you have yourself a good watch. The premise is quite interesting, taking a more realistic approach and focusing on how we would react if aliens made contact with us first rather than the other way around and how we would respond. It shows this process of ‘contact’ through the primary character, Derek, and the universal language of maths. Derek’s investigation and attempt at decrypting the alien message adds to the thriller side of things, although the film sometimes indulges itself too much in explanations of maths and formulas, which comes off boring rather than exciting. This investigation also starts way too quickly, the audience isn’t given a chance to even know the characters names before things kick off – I
know people complain about things taking too long to happen, but the opposite isn’t any better in some cases.

In terms of the characters, UFO focuses largely on Derek and his investigation. This is fine as obviously this is the main hook of the movie; however the side characters aren’t given any space to breathe and so just come off rather pointless. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t hate any of these characters, but you just don’t really feel anything for them either. A chief example of this is the maths professor, played by Gillian Anderson no less! What could’ve been an exciting character that goes beyond a cameo unfortunately comes off flat and meaningless. It’s a shame as these side characters would’ve opened the film up to a few more layers that could’ve lifted
the film just that bit higher.

However, UFO still manages to capture you by the end. In spite of its faults it has a charm that still leaves you in good spirits by the end – even if you don’t like the film you don’t feel like you’ve wasted your time. When it isn’t overly explaining maths the investigation gets quite exciting, Derek’s best friend (albeit redundant) adds a bit of much needed humour, technically the film is fine (not great but nothing to complain about). It does have pros that succeed in making the film still enjoyable to watch.

All in all, UFO is a film you will either love or hate – for me, I wasn’t so keen and yet, looking back on it, I do have a certain appreciation for it. Despite its flaws the film is still able to get you on board by the end, leaving you thinking ‘Did I like that or not?’ But alas, there are better, similar sci-fi films out there which I would urge you to try first.

​‘Possum’ is the debut feature film from Matthew Holness, who is perhaps one of the last
people you might expect to write/direct such a bleak horror since his contributions to the
industry has, for the most part, been in comedy television. He boasts directing credits from
much-loved British comedy series’ such as ‘The Office’ and ‘Toast of London’, but ‘Possum’
shows the dark side of his imagination in a psychological horror about a puppeteer who
returns to his childhood home and can’t seem get rid of the half-man, half-spider
marionette known as Possum. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that in the past boys had
disappeared from the area and it’s happening again – but is it the traumatised Philip (Sean
Harris), his abusive uncle Maurice (Alun Armstrong), or the disturbing puppet who is
responsible?

The plot of the film is very simple and minimalistic, with more focus on the imagery to
create a disturbing atmosphere. The aesthetic style takes inspiration from the 70s as well as
from the German expressionist era, especially the image of Possum itself which is a haunting
mask of a face (very similar to the shape of adult Philip, which can’t be a coincidence and
provides a great deal of symbolism as he tries to get rid of it) attached to horribly long
spider legs. This imagery adds to the sense that Philip is living in a nightmare, and the
surreal viewpoint is enough to make the audience question his sanity. Furthermore,
although there isn’t much dialogue, Harris plays Philip with a submissiveness and timidity
that primarily shows through his body language and soon has you feeling sympathetic
towards him – particularly when he’s around Maurice, a malicious presence who takes great
pleasure from Philip’s pain.

The ending is abrupt and took me by surprise in the best way. The rest of the film is so
focused on the cycle of Philip’s trauma and creating an atmosphere through visuals that the
climax feels earned and can make you view the film in a new way. It’s a satisfying end to
something that easily could have taken the artsy route and left everything hanging as an
utter mystery to the audience – maybe some people would prefer it that way, but having
some of the answers isn’t always a bad thing in my opinion. In a narrative that was full of
uncertainty and an unreliable perspective, a small dose of reality is what was needed and
rounded the story off well.

​Despite being a little bit repetitive at times and possibly being better suited to a short film
format, I would definitely recommend ‘Possum’ to horror fans. Holness shows a good
understanding of visual storytelling in his debut feature, and his years of directing
experience shine through in the wonderful performances from the cast; with his minimalist
approach to the narrative, this would have been make or break for the film, but luckily he
pulls through.

In an industry where so much of the same generic, repetitive material gets released year upon year, it’s incredibly refreshing when something original floats to the surface. Every once in a while we stumble upon a true gem that will go down in history as one of the modern classics. With Jordan Peele’s second outing as director, I believe we have one such example.
​
Following the huge success of 2017’s Get Out, Peele has come back even bigger and bolder with a film that delivers on just about every level.

It follows the story of Adelaide Wilson (a stellar Lupito Nyong’o), her husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and their two children Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) as they head to a holiday home by the beach for the summer. They venture down to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to meet up with their friends Kitty (Elizabeth Moss) and Josh (Tim Heidecker) and their kids. What begins as a relaxing vacation soon takes a dark and sinister turn when a group of intruders break into their home that night and not only are they frightening in both behaviour and appearance, they also look exactly like the Wilson family. It soon becomes clear that the doppelgangers have something disturbing in mind for the Wilsons.

What unravels for the rest of the film is tense, action-packed and truly unnerving at times.
This is a director who not only knows his films, but more crucially, knows his horror. There
are enough Easter Eggs and nods to classics of the genre that this definitely warrants repeat
viewings. There is such a richness and depth to this film, you can’t help but admire Peele’s
vision. The soundtrack is eerie and disconcerting, working its magic to play against the
backdrop of the story perfectly. Who knew several versions of ‘I Got 5 On It’ could be so
effective? Well, Peele has pulled that off here too.

The cast are absolutely superb. Winston Duke is charismatic and funny; at first playing the
classic naïve character who won’t believe what’s happening but then quickly transitioning
into the macho, brave father figure. Even as his doppelganger who doesn’t say a lot, he
manages to express a lot with body language alone. Young newcomers Shahadi Wright and
Evan Alex are brilliant and give superb turns as both their original selves and their alternate
characters. Even Elizabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker are entertaining as a very different kind
of family to the Wilsons; they present an ignorant, selfish form of parenting which contrasts
nicely with the former.

However, this is Lupita Nyong’o’s film and she steals every scene she’s in – which is most of
them. As Adelaide she is maternal and brave but as her doppelganger she is utterly chilling
and says so much with just the turn of her head or widening of her big, brown eyes. You can
tell she really had fun with this role and had a freedom to go in her own direction somewhat.
This is a stellar performance and the sky is the limit for her now.

Jordan Peele has created a genuinely impressive film here and one that stays with you long
after you leave the cinema. There are twists and turns, some explained and some left ambiguous. By the end you’ll want to dive back into this nightmare and witness it all again
just so you can appreciate all those little tropes and references that a true admirer of the genre
has so lovingly laid out for you.