The Monster
The Monster features a mother and young daughter that have a toxic relationship, filled with alcoholism and addiction on the mother’s side. The mother is meant to be dropping her daughter off at the father’s (from whom she is separated) but due to a hangover, they are forced to travel during rain at night. After breaking down, having collided with a wolf, they realise that they are being hunted by a dangerous and terrifying creature.
This was an alright horror movie, it did have a lot of scares. Unlike a lot of low budget horror movies, they did not shy away from showing the creature. However, the tension was broken up repeatedly by flashbacks showing the toxic dynamic between the child and the mother, so it lacked that horror punch they were going for.
Colossal
I was intrigued by the premise of Colossal, as it sounded a bit mad. Unfortunately, it did not deliver. Anne Hathaway plays an unemployed writer with an alcohol problem, that moves back to her hometown after her rich boyfriend breaks up with her. Soon there are reports of a giant creature terrorizing Seoul, and she starts to believe that she is connected to this disastrous phenomenon. This movie frankly made me angry. I hoped for a kooky film that features monsters, instead it was a story about an old friend that promises to help her out, but when not getting what he wants, he uses her secret to manipulate her to his will. There are a lot more profound and complex stories about toxic relationships, that are worth more a watch than this weird mess.
Only
Only had an intriguing premise – I am definitely a sucker for virus based movies. So after a comet releases a mysterious virus, that ends up slowly killing off all the women in the world, a young couple are hiding out in their sterile apartment. Not only is the illness a threat to the woman in this film, but there are those who wish to turn any woman in for a big cash reward from the government, so they can perform experiments on them. It’s hard for me to say whether this was a good film or not, but it did make me feel really uncomfortable, that’s for sure. It definitely really showed the struggle of isolation and loneliness that is inflicted on the woman, but does not make any more important points – other than that the rest of humanity is pretty terrible.
Infini
I really thought I might be onto another sci-fi winner here, but yet again I was disappointed (the full Infini review here). Infini did start off strong but by the latter half of the film, my patience and attention was waning. A last resort and elite search and rescue team are sent through deep space to a distant mining colony after a biological outbreak has wiped out everyone on the system. One lone survivor, Whit, may be able to shed light on what happened. The mystery is intriguing, but a lot of the scenes in Infini are just Whit and the other team members going insane and talking in chaotic jumbles. I also found the solution to the problem of this infection to be rather trite.
Prey
Prey was a lot of fun, I have to say. It is a bit wacky but for a pretty rudimentary storyline, but this did help liven it up. It is a Dutch film, but I did watch the dubbed version this time around. The plot is simple, a monstrous lion is terrorizing Amsterdam and a zoo veterinarian, Lizzy, is leading the man(lion?)hunt to capture this creature before it kills everyone. Unfortunately for the veterinarian, no one believes her at first, ignoring all the warnings. Eventually the police chief is forced to accept reality and Lizzy hires a lion specialist from England. Everyone is surprised when the hunter arrives, as he is wheelchair bound. Admittedly, I was surprised too, but they managed to tie it well together, whilst making it a joy to watch.
Screamers
Somehow I have never watched Screamers and for the most part, this was an enjoyable and interesting watch. But with forced romance crammed into the end, it seemed to make the ending drag on a bit. For those who haven’t seen it, Screamers is set in 2078, a war is raging through the colony Sirius 6B that has claimed the lives of many civilians over highly sought-after material, that is highly polluting and radioactive. However, on this distant colony they have finally developed the ultimate weapon to defend themselves, a blade-wielding, self-replicating race of killing devices known as Screamers. But it soon becomes clear that the Screamers have gained sentience, and they are interested in their own war objectives. This was a nice, well contained sci-fi action with interesting characters, and in some parts it reminded me of the paranoia in The Thing. But as I said, the ending, though dramatic, felt a bit forced.
Maneater
OK I knew this was going to be pretty mediocre, if not terrible when I started watching it. And yes it was, but I still don’t regret watching it. I mean the acting and characters were all pretty terrible, but that made it so much better when they got killed in my opinion. A morally bankrupt corporation is experimenting with genetics and ends up creating a man hunting creature. Unfortunately it escapes and finds its way to a secluded cabin where a photographer, models and their tour guides are staying. Don’t expect a high class story here and the special effects aren’t that great, but take it for what it is – a silly creature feature.
Deep Blue Sea
I have always said that Deep Blue Sea is a classic, though I doubt many people agree with me. It is a film I probably watch yearly though. Featuring Thomas Jane, Samuel Jackson and LL Cool J, a group of scientists are on an isolated research facility, trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s using shark DNA. As you may suspect, the experiments end up creating highly intelligent sharks, that do not appreciate being caged and experimented on. I will say this is a lot better in terms of quality than of the former Maneater, though it can be slightly cringy at times. But thankfully they don’t spend much time on the dodgy science, and you get stuck into the crazy shark action.
Survivor
One of these days, I will have watched my last Kevin Sorbo movie and I will be happy with that fact. To say I am not a fan of Kevin Sorbo would be an understatement. Though he may believe that his career is in the toilet because of a Hollywood conspiracy against Christians, everyone with a sane mind, knows he is a terrible actor. Thankfully he was not much in this film, but it was not worth the watch. The plot is that the last living humans are searching for a habitable planet when they crash-land a barren world full of bloodthirsty creatures and mysterious warriors. I felt I watched the main female protagonist just spend her whole time climbing lots of rocks for the majority of this film. I mean I was probably generous when I said this had a plot, you have been warned.
That’s all for this Chills and Thrills.
In case you missed anything last month:
