Netflix And Chill: Night Teeth (2021)

“Ain’t nothing like a fang gang”, as The Sensational Alex Harvey Band almost sang, many years ago. It has so often been the case, in books and in films, that vampires have lived among us, negotiating truces with various factions (be they humans, other vampires, is something else). And those truces always seem to fall apart at some point.

Jorge Lendeborg Jr. plays Benny, a chilled-out student who offers to cover a shift as a driver for his brother, Jay (Raul Castillo). He picks up two young women, Blaire (Debby Ryan) and Zoe (Lucy Fry), and begins taking them from one party to another. What he doesn’t realise, initially, is that Blaire and Zoe are working for Victor (Alfie Allen), and Victor is a vampire who plans to become the head honcho overnight by taking out all of the competition. Blaire and Zoe are also vampires, and they were expecting Jay to be their driver, as Jay is also a target, albeit a human one).

A debut script from Brent Dillon is given some due care and attention from director Adam Randall (delivering his second feature after the excellent I See You), and the end result is an enjoyable, horror-tinged, teen flick. Benny may be in a lot of trouble, and it could end up being his last night, but he gets to experience some good times along the way, achieving a status and level of cool previously unattainable. He also finds himself quite attracted to Blaire, so it’s far from all bad. The threat of being bitten and having his blood drained may put a dampener on things, but there’s always a chance that Benny might eventually be released. He is just the wrong guy in the wrong place, and maybe killer vampires will take that into consideration.

There’s nothing special here, in either the style or the material itself. Locations vary from luxury homes to private members clubs, from a busy nightclub to a villain’s swanky HQ, complete with “blood bank”. And the characters are usually either unfazed and calm, or trying to find the nearest exit once they have seem some bloodshed. It’s all very familiar, but the leads help make it work.

Lendeborg Jr. is very likeable in the role of Benny, a guy so laidback that he could make a fantastic carpet. Ryan and Fry are both fine for their characters, with the former being a bit more sweet and lovely while the latter is the one rushing to enjoy some killing. Allen is a decent head baddie, Castillo is okay, but a bit bland, and there’s a decent little enjoyable cameo for Megan Fox.

If you are after a fun vampire movie then I would recommend many others ahead of this (from Vamp to We Are The Night, with so many others also in immediate contention). But if you’re after a fun NEW vampire movie then I would happily recommend this. It’s an easily enjoyable bit of bitey entertainment.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: I See You (2019)

What starts off as a fairly routine, perhaps even substandard, thriller soon turns into something much more interesting by the time you get to the second half, and I am happy to highly recommend I See You to everyone who enjoys a film with some decent twists and turns.

It starts with the abduction of a young boy. This leads to Detective Greg Harper (Jon Tenney) diving into a case that feels very similar to one that everyone thought was all wrapped up. And missing teens aren't the only thing troubling Harper, as he deals with problems at home, mostly in the shape of infidelity committed by his wife, Jackie (Helen Hunt), and the anger this has stirred up in their teen son, Connor (Judah Lewis). There are also two other important characters, Alec and Mindy, but they come along later on, so I won't be focusing on them just now.

A big step up from director Adam Randall's previous movie (the disappointing iBoy), I See You works so well thanks to the script from first-timer Devon Graye. People may be a bit disappointed during the opening scenes, with the first half of the film playing out in a way that implies a supernatural element some won't want to accept, but patience is rewarded in a back end that is loaded with enjoyable revelations. Graye plots everything tightly enough, making the less believable moments easier to swallow as he starts to tighten the coiled spring you know will be loosed by the finale.

A lot of scenes feature some nicely "floating" camerawork, accompanied by a brooding score, that maintains the feeling of characters being watched by something in the house, be it an intruder or some kind of supernatural force. The conversations between various characters all feel loaded with much more than just the words being said, and that's even more apparent when viewers are given a different perspective on things.

Although Hunt is the big name at the heart of the cast, this is very much an ensemble piece. Tenney is an imposing presence throughout, and it's easy to stay on his side for a lot of the runtime, considering what he's dealing with, while Lewis is allowed to play his character as a teen with plenty of anger that is absolutely understandable. Owen Teague and Libe Barer are Alec and Mindy, respectively, and both give great performances, although it is Teague who ends up carrying a lot of the responsibility for how you ultimately react to things, his character arguably going through more changes than anyone else. Gregory Alan Williams does very well as the other detective, Spitzky, who wants to find out what the hell is going on with this new case of missing kids bringing a dark past crashing back into the present, and Sam Trammell has a small, but pivotal, role in the proceedings.

One to watch before you read too much about it, trust me when I tell you that you should end up satisfied with this one if you trust the people guiding you through the twists and turns. It has some great tension, it has some thrills, and it has an emotional core that, once revealed, feels very plausible and completely earned.

8/10

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iBoy (2017)

Simple, silly, moderately entertaining for most of its runtime, iBoy is a film that somehow feels both over the top and never able to fully realise the potential of the central gimmick. It doesn't seem to know where it wants to go in terms of grit and tone, leaving it disappointing to those hoping for some kind of urban revenge tale with a twist and equally disappointing to those seeking pure escapism.

Bill Milner plays young Tom, a boy who runs into a vicious gang incident and is shot in the head while trying to call for help as he flees. When he comes out of a coma, Tom is informed that bits of his smart phone are now stuck inside his head. It soon becomes clear that this freak accident allows Tom to access the internet, and thus any other gadgetry, with the upgraded power of his mind, and he doesn't waste any time setting about to deal with the general crime problem in his neighbourhood, and the specific gang members who changed his life.

Although Milner isn't asked to do any more than wear a hoodie and look sullen for many parts of the movie, he's good enough in the lead role. Maisie Williams also does okay, as Lucy, the object of Tom's unvoiced affection, although it's an underwritten role that seems to have been offered to her in order to use her name as a selling point. Jordan Bolger is also good as Danny, a friend of Tom who starts to wonder about the changes in him, and both Miranda Richardson and Rory Kinnear do good work, with the latter coming in to steal the movie in the last few scenes. The rest of the cast consists of young rent-a-thugs who simply hang around onscreen until our hero can deal with them.

Based on a novel by Kevin Brooks, the screenplay, written by Joe Barton, Mark Denton, and Jonny Stockwood, is busy moving from one nonsensical tech-reliant set-piece to the next (seeing how Tom views the world and makes his connections to the devices around him) without any real attempt to actually flesh out the rest of the characters beyond the level of inferior teen drama (think of a cross between Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, but with some added gang presence).

Director Adam Randall doesn't do enough to make up for the script problems, although it's hard to fault him for his basic approach to the material, especially when considering the fact that the budget must have come in at the lower end of the spectrum, and the entire movie ends up playing out on one standard level of engagement when it really should have been a mix of satisfying highs and temporary setbacks for our hero.

Like a lot of the other Netflix-branded content, this is something that isn't awful and isn't great. It's just there, available to you as you lounge on your sofa and push the button for it (either accidentally or on purpose). Nobody involved will hold it up as the shining star on their CV but it's not the worst way to spend 90 minutes.

4/10

iBoy isn't on shiny disc yet, so why not buy Johnny Mnemonic instead.
Americans can get Johnny Mnemonic here.