The Toxic Avenger (2023)

While it's hard to deny that we live in some truly dire times (I mean . . . *gestures at everything around us*), it's also pleasing to note that we now live in a world that has given us a new Toxic Avenger movie. And not just any Toxic Avenger movie. This is written and directed by Macon Blair, and has a cast that includes Peter Dinklage in the main role, Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Kevin Bacon, Elijah Wood,  Julia Davis, and Sarah Niles.

Dinklage plays Winston, a man who will eventually be transformed into the titular (anti/super)hero, although his character is brilliantly portrayed by Luisa Guerreiro. Anyway, Winston is trying to bond with his step-son, Wade (Jacob Tremblay), both still grieving the loss of the main woman they loved, but has his standard routine of drudgery and self-doubt interrupted by a chain of events that lead to his body being dumped into a load of toxic sludge. And that's when The Toxic Avenger is born, just in time to help a plucky investigative reporter (J. J. Doherty, played by Paige) reveal the truth about a corrupt pharmaceutical company headed by Bob Garbinger (Bacon).

The first thing I want to say about The Toxic Avenger is that it's a bit too long, the runtime is just over 100 minutes, and it could have moved things into place in the first act much quicker than it does, but there's a very satisfying pay-off for most of the plot points set up here. While I enjoyed a lot of it, I feel that the pacing really works against it, and others may well feel the same.

Everything else I have to say about the film is pretty positive though, despite me not being as completely won over by it as others were. The cast is uniformly great, with Paige being an essential strong heartbeat for a film so populated with over the top villainy and silly grotesqueries. Dinklage has a lot of fun as the loser who watches his life go from bad to worse to toxic, Tremblay is able to be both a bit sullen and very vulnerable, as required, and Bacon, Wood, and Davis are a dangerous trio that wouldn't look out of place in a big-budget Batman movie. It's Toxie front and centre, but Paige plays her part so well that she helps to ground the ridiculous gore and gags, reminding you that there are people onscreen who are desperate for help . . . even if it comes in the shape of a very unlikely "hero".

It may keep itself slightly distanced from the worst elements of Troma Entertainment, where the main character originated, but fans will be happy to find that it has a spirit, and a commmitment to excessive amounts of gore and bodily harm, that aligns it nicely with body of work we've had throughout the decades from "Uncle Lloyd" and co.

There's room for improvement here, and room for even more detached limbs and geysers of blood, but Blair has done a hell of a job to walk a perilous tightrope. This should please both fans of the original movies and relative newcomers who go into their viewing with some idea of what it's aiming for. I'll be rewatching it, probably more than I would ever rewatch any of the other movies in the series, and I encourage others to at least throw some rental money towards it. How else am I going to get my long-gestating Class Of Nuke 'Em High remake made?

8/10

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MaXXXine (2024)

X was first, and then it was equalled by Pearl. Now we have MaXXXine, the final instalment of what could be, if handled well, the most consistently brilliant horror trilogy of the past quarter of a century. No pressure then.

Mia Goth returns, of course, in the role of Maxine Minx, an adult film star we first met in X. Minx has achieved the first part of her plan to be a great success, but now comes the tricky time when she hopes to transition into more mainstream fare. She knows she has what it takes, but she just has to hope that the horror movie she is due to star in will be good enough to match her talent. Meanwhile, a killer is cutting his way through the young women who work in the parts of Hollywood not covered in glitter and stardust.

Whatever you think of this trilogy, you have to admire the fact that Ti West, as well as collaborating creative/lead Goth, has delivered three slasher movies that feel very different yet also feel brilliantly in conversation with one another as they waltz around one another on their way to a looming door with a neon "EXIT" sign flashing above it. It also helps that West has done such a great job of evoking three unique eras in a way that allows for a change in aesthetics while also feeding into everything that is being explored in the central character (whether that is Maxine or Pearl).

Before people start to get the wrong impression here, perhaps thinking that I am going to rank this film as an equal alongside the two that preceded it, I should say that this doesn't quite stick the landing. The third act of the third film is where West stumbles, which is a great shame. That will allow many viewers to come away from this and think of nothing more than that one aspect, but a moment to remember the whole trilogy, and what was achieved overall, should be enough to make you give this film a bit more goodwill. It also helps that it shows so much love for the history of the horror genre, and the history of movie-making, as the other instalments, and does so once again without bringing everything to a complete halt in order to nod and wink at the audience.

Goth deserves some kind of special award for her work in this trilogy, and her performance here is as faultless as anything else that she's done recently. There is no trilogy without her astonishing work at the heart of it, which is another big plus. There are some other big names alongside her, but results vary. Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale are pretty wasted as two detectives trying to catch a killer, and Kevin Bacon is having a bit too much fun as a slezay private investigator who feels like he should be in a different movie, but Giancarlo Esposito, Moses Sumney, and Lily Collins do very good work, Simon Prast somehow pitches the tone of his performance just right, and Elizabeth Debicki does so well that she comes closest to stealing a scene or two from Goth. She doesn't succeed, but she comes close.

I started this review with some hesitation. I wanted to praise the film, but also wanted to explain my disappointment with the mis-steps. In the process of writing it, however, I have actually managed to convince myself that the mis-steps aren't that important. This has a number of people working at what seems to be the height of their powers, a great soundtrack (and the music from Tyler Bates is also wonderful), and some gory moments of violence on the way to an ending that serves as a near-perfect way to say goodbye to this mesmerising and challenging character. It may not equal the other two films in the trilogy, but it doesn't miss by much.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)

It's easy to see how this film, the fourth feature in the Beverly Hills Cop series, came about, especially when you look at the entertainment landscape and see the money being made from the good old nostalgia train. There may be another new director behind the camera, Mark Molloy (making his feature debut), and the writing team of Will Beall, Tom Gornican, and Kevin Etten also adds plenty of Beverly Hills newcomers, but what matters most is Eddie Murphy being back in the title role, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Paul Reiser, and Bronson Pinchot making themselves available to reprise their characters, and a soundtrack that tries to recreate every sonic beat from the original.

It's all very basic stuff. Axel Foley (Murphy) ends up returning to Beverly Hills when he is informed about his estranged daughter's life being in danger. His daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige), is a lawyer who is about to defend an alleged cop killer, but she suspects that there are some dirty cops trying to frame an innocent man. Billy Rosewood (Reinhold) is now a PI who also believes that there are some cops involved in this crime, John Taggart (Ashton) is now the Chief, and Captain Cade Grant is a main supporting character played by Kevin Bacon in a way that doesn't make his character completely obvious from his very first scene. Okay, it's obvious. This is the Columbo style of mystery story-telling, with the main satisfaction due to be derived from seeing how Foley catches the person he instinctively knows is the main villain. There's also a helpful detective named Bobby Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who has just as much interest in keeping Jane safe as they have a shared past as a couple.

Look, it's hard to go into this without knowing what you're letting yourself in for. In that regard, anyone coming away from it feeling short-changed or miserable only really has themselves to blame. That's not to say that this can still leave viewers feeling disappointed, and I was left sadly disappointed, but it basically delivers what it tells you it will deliver. Murphy slips back into his character with relative ease, older, but not necessarily a hell of a lot wiser, and the other series (semi-)regulars turn up to wave and remind you of what you enjoyed about the interactions of everyone the first time around. The structure of the plotting, various lines of dialogue, and the soundtrack choices all work together to ensure that you watch this wrapped up in a cosy glow. It's a shame that there's nothing else accompanying that glow though, and that glow alone just wasn't enough for me.

Murphy has had mixed success in recent years, and it's obvious why he has returned to some past glories (is he currently developing a belated sequel to Trading Places and another 48. Hrs movie? probably not, but I wouldn't be surprised), but he doesn't know how to star in an Eddie Murphy vehicle that also works as well for others around him. Paige is fantastic, and it's good to have someone who actually stands up to the antics of Foley nowadays, even if she has the benefit of being a blood relative, but Gordon-Levitt feels wasted, and sorely out of place, and most of the time watching Reinhold, Ashton, and Reiser is tinged with sadness as viewers are constantly reminded of how age has wearied them. Pinchot is a highlight, as he has been in his previous appearances in this series, and Bacon is very comfortable in a role that he could do in his sleep.

The director and writing team do what they're tasked with doing, but they sadly don't do any more. It doesn't help that everything looks and feels more like a Netflix film than a Beverly Hills Cop movie (a bit tricky to define, but you will know it when you see it . . . something polished that often feels like it has been filmed in front of a whole lot of unnecessary greenscreen). The laughs don't come thick and fast enough, the action is bigger, but not better, and many of the supporting characters feel like popular guest stars on a long-running sit-com. That doesn't make it the worst movie you could choose to watch this weekend, but it does make it the worst of the Beverly Hills Cop movies, despite the fact that it at least has Foley doing some proper detective work again.

4/10

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Netflix And Chill: Leave The World Behind (2023)

Based on a novel by Rumaan Alam, Leave The World Behind is arguably just as well-known now for being produced by Barack and Michelle Obama as it is for being written and directed by Sam Esmail. It proved quite divisive when released just over a month ago, but I'm going to say that it's definitely worth your time, if only for the fact that none of the main cast members put a foot wrong with their performances.

The premise is quite simple. Amanda and Clay Sandford head away for a peaceful vacation, two teenaged kids in tow. Things soon start to get a bit strange though, particularly when some time at the beach is interrupted by a huge ship crashing into the shore. They get even stranger, and more tense, when G. H. Scott and his daughter, Ruth, turn up on the doorstep of the holiday home, claiming to be the owner in need of shelter after a major incident has caused havoc in the city. Clay is quite welcoming and easygoing about the whole thing, but Amanda immediately has her guard up.

If there's one major criticism I could directed at Leave The World Behind it's the fact that nothing seems as interestingly ambiguous as it could have been. The first half is much more interesting than the rest of it, although there's plenty of decent individual moments to still make it worth the 138-minute runtime. Of course, some of that may be down to my response to the casting, and the way that Esmail is happy to have certain characters be so cold and spiky that you automatically hope for others to prove their misanthropy wrong.

Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke are the Sandfords, and their children are played by Farrah Mackenzie and Charlie Evans. Everyone is perfect in roles that allow them to have a number of fun and interesting interactions with others onscreen, even if Mackenzie's character is motivated most of the time by a surprisingly understandable need to find a way to watch the final episodes of Friends, something familiar and comforting as the situation around her grows more chaotic and alien. Evans has the least to do, although even he gets to make an impact in the third act with the journey that his character goes on, but both Hawke and Roberts are as watchable as ever, with the latter seeming to relish a role that allows her to retain a cool and spiky demeanour for most of her screentime. As the Scotts, both Mahershala Ali and Myha'la are brilliant, dealing with a spiralling situation that they know is going to be exacerbated by the attitudes and prejudices of people acting rashly while driven by fear. Ali's character really knows the value of keeping people calm and pro-active, but he struggles to keep others on the same page. There's also a good little turn from Kevin Bacon, delivering one of his best performances in a while as someone else preparing for what he sees is a major storm brewing, to put it mildly.

The first big project from Esmail since his huge TV success (and I encourage everyone reading this to check out the brilliant and thought-provoking Mr. Robot), Leave The World Behind is enjoyably ambitious and messy. It's a melting point of talking points, with at least one scene sticking in your mind because of it being impressively terrifying for the cinematic strangeness and horrific implications, but doesn't ever really turn into something completely satisfying. I started to suspect that would be the case at about the halfway mark though, and I'm not sure of any other way the film should have ended. 

It may make you a bit more anxious than the latest world news and ongoing daily dumpster fires going on around us already do, but I still think people should give this a go. It doesn't ever become more than the sum of its parts, but some of those parts are simply brilliant.

7/10

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Prime Time: Stir Of Echoes (1999)

If there’s one thing almost guaranteed to happen nowadays when someone praises Stir Of Echoes it is that same person also saying that the film is actually better than The Sixth Sense (the supernatural blockbuster behemoth that unfortunately overshadowed this film back when it was released in 1999). People are entitled to that opinion. I disagree though, although Stir Of Echoes IS an excellent chiller that more people still need to check out.

Kevin Bacon plays Tom, a blue collar worker who is married to Maggie (Kathryn Erbe), the two living in a fairly comfortable new home with their son, Jake (Zachary David Cope). One evening, Tom’s sister-in-law, Lisa (Illeana Douglas) agrees to hypnotize him at a party, which is when his troubles begin. Tom starts seeing things, visions of a young woman (played by Jennifer Morrison) who went missing in the neighbourhood some time ago. His mind has become more receptive, allowing him to see the world around him in a different way. It turns out that his new perspective allows him to glimpse things that his son has been seeing for some time, but maybe things will go back to normal if Tom helps the missing girl in need of his help.

Adapted from a tale by Richard Matheson, Stir Of Echoes was written and directed by David Koepp (his second directorial feature), and it does a fantastic job of grounding the supernatural elements in something that keeps you caring about the characters and believing each stage of the plot development.

As hard as it is for me to say it, because I am a big fan of his work, the biggest problem with Stir Of Echoes is Kevin Bacon. He’s not actually bad, but I cannot help thinking that a number of other actors would do a better job in the main role, from the accent to the attitude. I am not sure who I would replace him with (my mind has considered the likes of Kevin Corrigan and Donnie Wahlberg), but he is the only one I would think of replacing. Erbe and Cope are both very good, with the latter particularly effective at portraying an innocent and playful child who hears and sees things he has become used to others being unaware of. Douglas only has a few main scenes, but she livens up the movie considerably, with her presence and her character being pivotal to the plot. Morrison is shot in a way that allows her to be a memorable onscreen presence, and there are a couple of solid supporting turns from Kevin Dunn and Connor O’Farrell.

Aside from some good performances, the main strength of this film lies in the script and the imagery. The title really sums up the central idea, and the “echoes” that we see are interspersed throughout the plot in a way that brilliantly builds the mystery and sense of intrigue all the way to a final act that is as enjoyable and satisfying as it is annoyingly formulaic. The finale is the least interesting part of the movie, but it works well enough at the end of the journey we have gone on with the main characters.

If you haven’t seen this one yet, do yourself a favour and check it out. The same goes for The Sixth Sense (of course). And then you can decide which one you like more.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Tremors (1990)

I have seen Tremors before. In fact, I have seen it many times. I own it in a couple of different formats, I own the excellent book by Jonathan Melville, I even own the t-shirt (a great design from the now-defunct darkbunnytees). It is very much comfort food in movie form, and I know that many others agree. It's also up there with the very best creature features. Who doesn't like Tremors? People with no soul, that's who. 

The plot here is simple. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are Valentine and Earl, two friends and co-workers who are looking forward to getting away from Perfection, the small desert town they have felt trapped in for many years. They end up feeling more trapped than usual, however, when the local area becomes a hunting ground for a number of subterranean creatures. The creatures are blind, but they're able to pick up on vibrations and sound, and they're fast and powerful. But the local residents, including the heavily-armed Burt (Michael Gross) and Heather Gummer (Reba McEntire) aren't going to be easy pickings.

The feature film debut of director Ron Underwood, (who spent a decade or so working on numerous shorts, knocked out a few movies, and almost ended his career by helming The Adventures Of Pluto Nash) this is a perfect storm of great ingredients, from the cast to the creature design, from the screenplay, by S. S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, to the ingenuity of the team all making the most of the relatively small budget.

Bacon and Ward are perfect in the lead roles, easygoing guys with a very believable friendship connecting them. Bacon has had his star shining brightly for decades now, but it's a shame that Ward rarely received due credit for the many wonderful performances he's delivered over the years. This remains one of his best turns, however, and we can just be thankful to the casting department for their great taste. That taste also gives us a lot of fun in the characters portrayed so wonderfully by Gross and McEntire, both highly proficient with their huge selection of weaponry. Finn Carter works well as Rhonda LeBeck, a graduate student conducting a number of seismology tests in the area, and a way to deliver more exposition at times (as well as being a potential romantic interest for one of our leads), and there are moments for Bobby Jacoby, Charlotte Stewart, Tony Genaro, Ariana Richards, and Victor Wong that provide a great mix of memorable moments for memorable characters. Everyone gets to be involved in the unfolding action, and nobody lets the team down. 

It's actually very easy to pull Tremors apart and show why it works as well as it does, and the biggest reason for the enduring success of it lies in the script. Following a structure that is familiar to any fan of decent creature features, or even most disaster movies, the pacing of every scene allows for beautifully-developed characterisations to run parallel to the increasingly dangerous threat to the lives of everyone onscreen. Add some creature POV shots, and a nice streak of humour, and the end result is something memorable, eminently rewatchable, and, well, almost perfectly designed to grab your attention and keep hold of it. And many of the films that would follow on from this (a number of sequels and one film set in the past) are also highly recommended, even if they aren't quite as good as this one.

Most people will have already seen this, which makes this yet another redundant review in a long line of redundant reviews. But if you haven't yet seen it . . . make it a priority. Today. treat yourself. You will definitely enjoy it. Unless you have no soul.

9/10

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Prime Time: Flatliners (1990)

Intense lighting in every shot, hidden wind machines blowing about the hair of the lead actors, Kiefer Sutherland floating through tree branches, Flatliners may have been released in 1990 but it is so ‘80s that it’s almost hilarious at times.

Sutherland plays a med student who comes up with a bizarre plan. He thinks that science can be advanced if you can spend some time exploring the world of death and then return to the world of the living. He enlists the help of others (Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin, and Oliver Platt) in his quest to play god. People take their turn on the table, being killed and then brought back to life. But they don’t come back alone. Sins from their past cling to them like a rain-sodden jacket.

Director Joel Schumacher takes a decent idea and makes it a fun star vehicle for some hot properties. That’s absolutely fine, and there are also some light scares dotted throughout, but it’s not a film anyone should seek out if they’re after proper tension and scares. This is a gateway flick, I guess, a teen horror with very little bloodshed and only one character ever feeling in proper danger. And for those of a certain age, it has that glow of nostalgia. 

Peter Filardi doesn’t do a bad job with his first feature screenplay, despite the obvious relative restrictions of having some big star power involved. Everyone has a quick and easy “hook” (be it Baldwin’s character videotaping his sexual trysts, or the others carrying around deep-rooted guilt for actions, or inaction), and the main morality lesson at the heart of it, aside from the dangers of playing god, is a solid one.

Baldwin aside, because he is arguably the blandest of the Baldwins, the central cast here are fine company. Sutherland happily goes over the top, far too cocky from the very beginning and very shaken up by the most dangerous of the “visions” that the main characters have. Bacon and Roberts are wavering needles on a moral compass, and work well, although there’s no chemistry in the scenes between them that are supposed to show them growing a bit closer together. And then there is Oliver Platt, an actor who elevates everything that he works on. He is his usual excellent self here, commenting on the situation as a witness who hasn’t been on the same journey as the other characters. Joshua Rudoy is an entertainingly vicious spirit, dressed in a red coat that inevitably brings to mind an older horror movie many consider a masterpiece, and Kimberly Scott has a nice moment, playing an older version of a young girl who was horribly bullied by one of our leads.

None of the sets look like anything other than cool movie sets, the score by James Newton Howard seems designed to underline every scare and attempts at emotion, and Schumacher moves his stars through the story like, well, stars being moved through a story, as opposed to fleshed out fictional characters, but none of these things really matter. If anything, they make Flatliners as enjoyable as it is. The sense of every main scene being so obviously staged, the feeling of stars being selected to turn up and be stars, the stranger highs and lows of the journey, it’s all a strangely cosy way to put together a slick chiller. And it guarantees that the film itself never actually flatlines.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: In The Cut (2003)

I remember being hugely disappointed when I first saw In The Cut, a film which was the first (and, sadly, still the only) I saw from Jane Campion. It was promoted as an adult erotic thriller. It was Meg Ryan moving away from her lovely, cute, roles. It seemed to be something that I would enjoy. The end result left me resenting a number of the people involved.

Here we are, almost two decades later, and this is the first time I have rewatched the movie since that initial disappointment. I don't know why I hoped that my response to it nowadays might be very different, all of the problems that I saw in it back in 2003/2004 (whenever it hit the home rental market) are still very much there).

Ryan is Frannie Avery, a woman who teaches writing. She is also working on her own project, which is why she meets up with student Cornelius Webb (Sharrieff Pugh) at a bar called The Red Turtle. And in that bar she ends up in a back room where she sees someone receiving oral sex. Although not seeing the face of the man, she spies a tattoo, which may be of some importance when the woman involved in the sex act turns up dead. Detective Giovanni A. Malloy (Mark Ruffalo) is investigating the murder, which brings him into contact with Frannie. The two have some chemistry together, and start having sex. But Detective Malloy also has a tattoo that looks identical to that which may belong to a killer.

Adapted by Susanna Moore and Campion, from the novel by Moore, In The Cut is a trashy erotic thriller that can't ever be comfortable as nothing more than a trashy erotic thriller. The sexual politics are interesting, to say the least, and a woman being in the director's chair doesn't make it any less strangely old-fashioned when it comes to dealing with what could have been an interesting look at what women can enjoy in their sex life while rejecting a number of those elements in any other context (the power shift, something dangerous, an abandonment of intelligence). Campion, and Moore, don't give more than a cursory nod to this complex subject, although there's a recurring narrative strand that shows Ryan's character exploring some of her thoughts with all the sense of a fumbling adolescent.

The weak screenplay and disappointing direction (meandering, unfocused, camerawork that is also trying to distract viewers from the kind of film Campion and Moore seem to want to deny making) would be less obvious is covered up by a decent cast, but In The Cut has a number of people giving far from their best performances. The worst of these, arguably, is Ryan, who just cannot convince in a role that sets her up as someone trying far too hard to shake off an image she crafted through years of successful rom-com work. Ruffalo may not be AS bad, but he seems to be bored throughout, perhaps knowing that the technical aspects won't mask the deficiencies in the material. Nick Damici is Ruffalo's partner, and he seems equally bored. Jennifer Jason Leigh is as good as ever, playing Pauline, a much more interesting character, Frannie's half-sister who seems less repressed, but also more troubled. Pugh is very good, and sorely underused, and Kevin Bacon appears just long enough to, well, I'm still not sure of the reason for his character being added to the plot (apart from, I guess, he was in the novel).

In The Cut is, essentially, an erotic thriller for people who just cannot sit comfortably with the idea of watching an erotic thriller. And it's made by people, both behind and in front of the camera, who all feel the same way. You may watch it and somehow appreciate it as a work of art. If so, feel free to call me an ignorant heathen. It wouldn't be the first time. Others should just go and watch Basic Instinct or  Poison Ivy again instead.

3/10

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You Should Have Left (2020)

Although released in 2020, You Should Have Left feels very much like a film that could have easily been a 2000 option. In fact, it has more than a few similarities with a major 2000 hit, which I won't mention here, because that would spoil things somewhat. It's not a bad film, I actually really enjoyed it, but it is quite a safe and predictable one, ultimately.

Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried are the couple who move into a strange holiday home in Wales. It's just them and their daughter, Ella (Avery Essex). And whatever else resides in the house. Because the house definitely has something in there, be it a supernatural presence or just a constant disregard for the everyday rules of physics. Doors lead to other doors, leading to other doors. The house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside (not in a fun TARDIS way). And time moves in mysterious ways once you start wandering through the various corridors and rooms. It's not entirely unironic that Mr Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon stars in a film set in a house which keeps changing by many degrees.

Written and directed by David Koepp, based on the novel by Daniel Kehlmann, what you end up with is a very traditional tale of the supernatural that feels a bit fresh and unique because of the very modern home used as the main setting. Well, it feels that way until you get to the grand finale, which actually provides an explanation that you almost refuse to believe, because it's the most obvious of all possible explanations (in terms of genre plotting, not in terms of everyday life). That doesn't detract from how effective the rest of the film is, and doesn't in itself ruin the whole thing. It's just a shame that there wasn't a more interesting and unique way to bring everything to a close in the third act.

Bacon and Seyfried are both excellent in their roles, despite the latter being about thirty years younger than the former (something I thought would be used within the actual plot, but really isn't . . . so I guess that is still just mainstream movies being mainstream movies, right?), but it's hard to truly buy them as a loving, married couple. Viewers see them with some  strain already on their relationship, and it takes time to tease out the details. Unfortunately, the damage is already done by then. It's almost impossible to think of how they got together, how they connected, and how they have stayed together for as long as they have. Essex is a very good young actress, managing to show a balance between being afraid and having the kind of open mind that can allow children to accept more weirdness than adults would put up with.

This review seems more critical than I intended. The more I thought about the movie, the more I could think of that was wrong. But, and this is important, I didn't really think of all of these flaws while the film was playing. I enjoyed the strangeness, enjoyed the spookiness, even enjoyed predicting some of the third act beats. You Should Have Left is far from perfect, and there are many ways in which it could have been improved, but it's an enjoyable attempt to do something familiar in a way that feels slightly new.

7/10

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The Darkness (2016)

There's a decent pedigree here. Director Greg McLean, stars Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell, the not-inconsiderable backing of the Blumhouse brand (I know, I know, that name isn't a sign of quality, but it at least allows the end product to be glossy potential fun). But let's not beat about the bush, The Darkness is rubbish.

A family are enjoying a vacation, part of which involves them visiting the Grand Canyon. The youngest member of the family, an autistic young boy named Mikey, finds a small cavern, in which he finds some rocks with symbols drawn on them. Taking them home, young Mikey inadvertently endangers his whole family, because the rocks seem to be a link to some demonic entities that then start to cause trouble by doing things as varied as repeatedly turning on the taps, making black handprints appear on different surfaces, and setting a wall on fire. The two worried parents race to find a solution to their serious problem, although it's hard to think that they should have just raised their kids not to go exploring strange caves and taking unauthorised ownership of strange rocks.

Written by Shayne Armstrong and S. P. Krause, as well as McLean, The Darkness is yet another mainstream horror movie highlighting the worst things that you can find in mainstream horror movies. The characters aren't very interesting, the tension is pretty non-existent, it's not scary, and it's just all too silly to go along with for any length of time. I am all for suspending disbelief and enjoying a wide variety of cinematic entertainment, but the writers still have to put the work in to get you ready to put you in that mental state.

McLean directs with competence, I'll give him that. That's the minimum praise I can give him, and it's the minimum praise that he deserves. Considering his past releases, The Darkness is undeserving of his involvement. Although everything is generally in the right place, it could have been anyone at the helm. It's THAT generic, and the third act just reminded me of the fact that it's been far too long since I attempted to rewatch every season of The X-Files (you'll see what I mean when you watch the film).

The cast are okay, trying their best with the weak material. David Mazouz is young Michael, and has to just be quiet and look blank (which he does), Lucy Fry is perfectly fine as the older sister, Stephanie, and Bacon and Mitchell are the best thing in the movie, as ill-served by the script as anyone else, but managing to fare a bit better thanks to simply being who they are.

Really not worth your time, unless you're looking for a fairly dull thriller that won't scare you in any way, The Darkness was a film that I was unaware of until last week. Now I have seen it, I know why that was the case.

3/10

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Super (2010)

In 2009 and 2010 viewers were given not one, not two, but three movies concerning people trying to make themselves into superheroes. The biggest release of the three was the enjoyable Kick-Ass. The one that kind of got lost between the cracks was Defendor (which I highly recommend). And then we have this movie, Super.

Rainn Wilson plays a man who is driven into action when his wife (Liv Tyler) is taken away from him by a local criminal kingpin (Kevin Bacon). At a low point in his life, he receives a vision that blends the message of a character on TV named The Holy Avenger (Nathan Fillion) and the touch of god. He'll become a superhero, fighting crime on a path that will lead him to taking down the kingpin and rescuing the one he loves. It's not long until The Crimson Bolt starts to cause problems for criminals, including anyone who cuts in line at the cinema, and a girl (Ellen Page) who works in a small comic book store doesn't take long to figure out just who the new superhero REALLY is.

James Gunn is a talented guy, capable of writing scripts that blend very dark moments with great entertainment, and he shows that again with this movie, which he both wrote and directed. Super really gets its strength from clashing child-like naivete up against the harsh realities of the world around us. A world in which criminals will draw a gun and shoot a man, superhero or not. A world that replaces the "kapow" and "whammy" of comic book panels with broken bones and blood. It's no place for the main character to try out his deluded plan, but he does so anyway.

Wilson is very good in the main role, a lovable schmuck who overreaches, but does so with good intentions. He's unbalanced, but his moral compass always tends to point the right way, even if the punishment he metes out can sometimes outweigh the transgression. Page is also great, countering the dark and disturbed mental state of Wilson's character with her brighter, though equally disturbed, outlook. Liv Tyler doesn't have as much to do, mainly being the damsel in distress, but she's very good, while Bacon has a blast as the main villain, helped out by a right hand man played by the great Michael Rooker. Gregg Henry fills out the cast, playing a detective who ends up in the middle of quite a crazy situation.

Super is a good film. It's interesting and funny and dark and warped. There's just something that stops me from liking it as much as some others do. I think that may be to do with the fact that I just prefer the two other movies mentioned in the first paragraph. Kick-Ass embraced the idea to provide brilliant, bloody entertainment. Defendor used the notion to really explore perception and mental health. Super sits in between the two, which leaves it slightly less satisfying, cinematically, than either.

7/10

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Novocaine (2001)

A quirky comedy thriller that doesn't have quite enough laughs or thrills, Novocaine isn't a bad film, by any means, but it's far from a great one. The script isn't exactly sizzling, and the execution of the material lacks any style and flair, but everything is made better thanks to a great cast who look like they're having fun.

Steve Martin stars as Frank Sangster, an orderly and efficient dentist who runs his business with constant help from his loving partner, Jean Noble (Laura Dern). That ordered and efficient life is turned upside down by the arrival of Susan (Helena Bonham Carter), an attractive young woman who also has a bad habit of stealing drugs. Susan comes with some bad baggage, in the shape of her violent brother, Duane (Scott Caan). Frank also has a troublesome brother, Harlan (Elias Koteas), but he's not as troublesome as the corpse that turns up, looking very much like he has been put in that state by Frank.

Written and directed by David Atkins (with Paul Felopulos helping create the story), this is a quirky comedy-tinged thriller that just falls short of being really worth your time. The twists and turns aren't twisty and turny enough, the little laughs are just that - little - and the whole thing feels as if it is trying, and failing, to be cool.

The cast all do a great job, and that's what helps the film to stay just above average. Martin is solid in another non-comedic role, allowing most of the humour to come from the characters played by Dern, Caan and Koteas, who all have fun with their roles. Helena Bonham Carter is good, and Keith David and Kevin Bacon steal their limited onscreen time, playing a cop and actor researching an upcoming cop role, respectively.

Novocaine is enjoyable enough but, and here's something I thought I'd never say, there are a few much better dentist movies out there. The Dentist and The Dentist 2 are horror movies that make the best of our instinctive fears while The Whole Nine Yards takes a more similiar path to this one, with better comedic results.

This movie is worth a watch, but it's probably not one to revisit and grow overly fond of. It's more of a temporary filling.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Novocaine-DVD-Steve-Martin/dp/B00009B0QH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377031436&sr=8-1&keywords=novocaine

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

Written and directed by the fairly prolific John Hughes (he only directed about 8 movies, but wrote over 30), this road trip comedy marks a career high for the much-loved John Candy, while also providing a number of great moments for Steve Martin. Martin is, essentially, the straight man here but he's on top, tightly wound, form and works so well alongside Candy that the two individuals become one great, eminently watchable, duo.

Martin is Neal Page, a man desperately trying to get home to his wife and kids in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, he keeps finding his progress impeded, accidentally, by Del Griffith (Candy). When the two men eventually meet face to face, and introductions are made, things don't get any better. Del talks a lot, he has a number of annoying habits, and he seems to be a bit of a disaster at times. He also has a big heart, however, and does his best to help Neal get home. Neal, for his part, continues to get more and more irritated by Del, though it's hard to stay angry at the guy. But, despite flight delays and rental car problems and hotel rooms with only one bed, the objective remains the same - get home.

With an ending as sappy and manipulative as it is sweet and moving, John Hughes walks a fine line here between the great laughs and the emotional core that he gives the material. Thankfully, the central pairing of Martin and Candy make the material work a lot better than it would have in lesser hands. Martin oozes cynicism and, at times, loathing. Candy is a big ball of positivity, even as he bumbles his way forward while leaving a big mess in his wake. Hughes, however, writes great moments for both, treating both characters with equal favour. Candy may get a number of great lines and sweet moments, but Martin raises big laughs when his temper explodes on at least two occasions - one leading to him emphasising that not everything is an anecdote and the other leading to a classic, profanity-laden exchange with a car rental agent, played by Edie McClurg.

The cast also includes Laila Robins (playing the concerned Mrs. Page), Michael McKean in a small role as a traffic cop, Kevin Bacon in a cameo as a commuter racing for a taxi and Dylan Baker, in his first cinema feature role, as a hick with one of the most memorable lines in the entire movie.

Everything is topped off by a decent soundtrack, I've always particularly enjoyed the use of "Red River Rock" here, and paced perfectly for the 93 minute runtime. There are flaws, with the heavy-handed ending being the major one, but it's a hard movie to dislike. Especially around Thanksgiving time.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Planes-Trains-Automobiles-Blu-ray-Region/dp/B005DS0W8O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374360302&sr=8-2&keywords=planes%2C+trains+and+automobiles

Wild Things (1998)

Wild Things is a twisty, stylish, sexy thriller that features a great cast all doing a great job. It's also quite trashy and stretches things further and further with each scene but I still love it (and, no, that's not just because of the scenes in which Denise Richards goes topless . . . . . . . . . . it's because of Theresa Russell too).

While aiming to keep things as spoiler-free as possible, I shall describe the plot thus: Matt Dillon plays Sam Lombardo, a popular and handsome guidance counselor who is accused of a heinous crime by Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards). It's simply untrue, according to Sam, but Kelly is the daughter of Sandra Van Ryan (Theresa Russell) and Sandra Van Ryan has the money and influence to make sure that Sam no longer has a place in his town. Kevin Bacon and Daphne Rubin-Vega are the two main cops on the case and Neve Campbell plays Suzie Toller, a girl who may end up playing an important part in the proceedings. Oh, and I'd better not forget to mention the great performance from Bill Murray as Ken Bowden, just about the only lawyer who will take a chance on defending Sam.

There's a clever, fun script by Stephen Peters and great direction from the talented John McNaughton (who provided audiences with the very different, and disturbing, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer and also directed the enjoyable Mad Dog & Glory) that manages to create a darker and darker style while still maintaining the colour and heat of the Florida locations.

A decent score by George S. Clinton accompanies the action but the icing on the cake is the acting from everyone involved. Matt Dillon is always a great actor, as is Kevin Bacon, so you expect them to do good things. And they do. Neve Campbell is just fine and Denise Richards is fantastic (she's actually very good in the right roles, such as her part in Drop Dead Gorgeous, but that often seems to be ignored because of her physical attributes). Bill Murray is another actor I'd watch in just about anything and he's as wonderful as ever here. Daphne Rubin-Vega easily holds her own and does well to avoid her character being pushed into the background.

Trashy and sexy fun, this is the kind of movie you'll probably enjoy if you liked Cruel Intentions and the fantastic Body Heat. And make sure that you keep watching the credits at the end of the movie to see a number of crucial revelations.

8/10

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