Film Reviews by Jamielou

If you've seen the original (1980's) Evil Dead films and Army of Darkness from 1992 then you'll know who Bruce Campbell, aka titular stare Ash Williams, is.  The hero of those movies and this 30 episode 3-season classic.  If you don't, well... our man Ash (Bruce) found the Book of the Necronomicon in a hut in the woods in deepest rural America, which turned out to be a very bad day for him and his (then) wife, to say any more would be a whole new level of spoiler alert.  However, Ash then found himself transported back to the middle ages UK in Army of Darkness and whilst there fought off all kinds of evil things, before finding himself back where he began.

Flash forward 25 ish years and Ash finds himself back in America and once again entangled with the Book, and all the shenanigans that that entails, the usual stuff, fighting demons, shotgun hands, blood, gore, more blood....  All I can say if you've never seen an Evil Dead film begin with the trilogy above then watch this.  Preferably all in one go, although admittedly 30 episodes of around 30 minutes each is a fair chunk of your time.  You'll love it, maybe not as much as I did, but if gruesome non-PC horror-comedy with a liberal dose of gore is your thing, it's a treat.  Then you can wonder why after 3 seasons it got cancelled by Starz.  In a sick twisted world where Mrs Brown's Boys is still on TV, that's the biggest horror of all. 

I wasn't expecting to like this after seeing other reviews but... as it turns out, I did.  Back at the turn of the millennium I was a big Kevin Smith fan and a couple of his films are still high in my favourites, even if his work over the last few years has been patchy (at best).  This is nothing new and it's entirely possible my rating is based on nostalgia (I loved Clerks, not so much Clerks 2) but I found it witty and touching in a lot of ways and if you're of a certain age (old enough to remember the first film, anyway) there are so many throwbacks to that time scale.  I have to be honest and say if you've never seen any of his films before, or know about his love for New Jersey, you probably won't find it to your liking, but if you give it a chance you may end up liking it.  It's quite slow paced, but that's part of its appeal....  

My expectations weren't high & to be honest I couldn't remember even reserving the film for rental but I started watching and so glad I did. I've seen British low budget gangster films before, a lot of them are terrible sacrificing story for violence & naughty language. This has violence & naughty language but it also has a plot.  I won't spoil the ending but if you watch the rest of the film, it makes a lot of sense & ties up the film very well.  The acting is excellent and exemplary for such a low budget film.  This film should be much well known than it is, and I'll be spreading the word, as should you!

I think this was probably the first VHS I rented back in the early 80’s and I remembered parts of it,  but seeing it again was very worthwhile.  It’s still quite effective in its shockability although I wouldn’t put it in the same category as some of the other “video nasties” of the early 80’s.  Story is pretty basic, man’s friend gets paralysed by a criminal gang and he seeks to hand out his own justice, not only to the gang but to other lowlifes he meets along the way.  Some of the killing methods are quite inventive for the time.  The film has a lot more depth than you would think, and there are some nice extras on the disc.

Saw a preview of this on a trailer for something else and was surprised I'd never heard of it before as it came out a while ago. It's a decent film, shades of Grosse Point Blank which is never a bad thing. Bill Nighy is excellent as a hitman who can't quite bring himself to fulfill his latest job, and the rest of the cast is excellent including some "cameos" of people you'd never expect in this kind of film. Well worth a look and would definitely watch it again.

I watched Suicide Squad and wasn’t very impressed with that, but DC pulled me in with Aquaman and Wonder Woman, even Justic League was pretty good.  In the league of Batman related items there have been the good (TV’s Gotham, Batman Begins), bad and truly awful.  This is somewhere between the latter two, the premise is OK but the delivery lacks anything to really engross yourself in.  Harley Quinne is a decent enough character, even if she is overacted by Robbie, but the support cast is just... hmmm.  Victor Zazz could have been better, like he was in the Gotham show.  In short see this is you’re desperate and have 90 minutes to waste, but seriously check out Gotham.  It’s a visual treat.

Amazing to think this came out almost 30 years ago and to see how attitudes have changed since.  The three characters are amazing with just the right balance between pathos and empathy.  To summarise the three “queens” win a trip to Hollywood but decide to buy an old car and drive rather than go in luxury.  Along the way they break down in a back woods town and slowly proceed to change attitudes with every click of their heels.  The film is very funny and makes some social points subtly but effectively.  

I wasn't really expecting much from this film as I thought the preview scenes were pretty bad, however they are possibly the worst part of the film. Sure it's a preposterous storyline but it worked for me and the CGI animals are fantastic. I would say just turn your brain off and go and enjoy it!

It's Rambo, come on! I had never seen a Rambo film until the last one in 2008 which I thoroughly enjoyed. I didn't quite know what to expect from this one but it's stupid, the plot is an excuse for more violence and I really enjoyed it. Without giving anything away basically it's a revenge movie, and we all know how those end up. Stallone is his usual slow talking violent self and it's very inventive in showing new ways for people to die horribly so if that's your thing, fill yer boots!

I've been a fan of Rob Zombie since the White Zombie days and I loved House of 1000 Corpses, when I eventually managed to track it down... Fair play to him, he's managed to make a lot of what he is, which is horror, gore and all things associated with it. I even liked his remake of Hallowe'en, the first one anyway. However I thought the Devil's Rejects was awful, but being (not very loosely) based on Texas Chainsaw Massacre I wasn't surprised because I thought that was awful as well. So I approached this as a fan, but not expecting very much, and for the first 20 minutes or so I wasn't impressed. But.. it does get better, if you like this kind of thing, which is pretty much mindless gore, and some let's say eccentric characters. There is a plot (people get kidnapped by weirdos, forced to play a game to survive.. so pretty much Saw really), and there is a lot of gore, and a lot of swearing. Whether you think it's worth your 90 minutes or so... depends on how appealing you found his previous movies, and the Saw films (and that genre), if you liked them, you may like this. If not, probably best giving it a swerve.

This film seems to be getting a lot of negative reviews and I don't understand why. I thought it was a decent film, Branagh plays Poirot very well and the supporting cast are mostly excellent. Quite a few twists and turns as with most Agatha Christie films! Well worth seeing.

Whilst this film wasn't totally mind-blowing it was much better than I was expecting, which is why I didn't see it at the cinema. I didn't even know Guy Ritchie directed it, but you can tell it's one of his (better) films pretty much instantly. The 2 leads work well together, the plot's a bit all over the place but the action is pretty good, reminds me of the Mission: Impossible films, which isn't a bad thing. Shame if there weren't any more films in the (new) UNCLE series, this stands up pretty well against the originals and they made quite a few in that series!

Wasn't too sure on renting this as I wasn't really keen on the previous one. This one stretches the formula a little and visually it's pretty good, the story's a bit tricky to follow, especially for younger kids, but it's a decent way to spend and hour and a half.

When I looked at this film before watching I was amazed how long the running time was. My attention span is pretty limited so a film has to be exceptional to hold my interest for 2 1/2 hours plus, and whilst this has good parts to it overall it wasn't quite gripping enough for me to be totally taken in. It's a decent enough film with a good story, but it's just too long!

I have to admit I knew nothing about this film before it arrived and was a bit ho-hum about watching it, but I'm glad I did. OK the story is obviously ridiculous, but the film is fun and the special effects are very well done, I'm guessing it's aimed squarely at kids (which I'm not..) and for me some things would scare me if I were early teens (or younger!). The young actors are very good, and Louis looks so much like his dad! If you have slightly elder kids they'd enjoy it and you probably would too if you like fantasy type films, give it a watch.