Dark Water (2005)

Director: Walter Salles

Notable Cast: Jennifer Connelly, Dougray Scott, Ariel Gade, John C. Reilly, Pete Postlethwaite, Tim Roth

There are times when I feel bad for a film like Dark Water. As a film, on its own, it’s more than solid. It’s damn near impressive and features a phenomenal cast and an effective narrative flow that uses its dramatic heft to add to its ghost story horror antics. Yet, it remains in that strange category of forgotten films simply because it wasn’t as good as the film it was a remake of, in this case the J-Horror masterpiece of the same title. So fans of the original can’t help but either despise it for being a remake of a great film or refer to it as a footnote when referring to the original. On its own though, Dark Water is still an effective supernatural thriller that does a lot of things with great success even if too many people have forgotten it exists. It might not be as good as its predecessor, but that doesn’t deter it from being solid on its own two feet.

Legionnaire (1998)

Director: Peter MacDonald

Notable Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Farrell, Jim Carter, Ana Sofrenovic, Daniel Caltagirone, Joseph Long

Time can certainly play tricks on a person. I remember watching Legionnaire when it first came out and thinking it was good, but too dramatic and not fun like most of the other Jean-Claude Van Damme films that had arrived before that. As time went on, I had convinced myself that it was a terrible film simply by way of thinking that there is no way JCVD could possibly have made a decent dramatic film in that time frame. Now that I have revisited Legionnaire, I must admit that it really is one of the better films he has ever made. Flawed, sure, in a lot of ways, but one that aspires to be something much larger and heavier than anything he had made up to that point.

Shivers (1975)

Director: David Cronenberg
Notable Cast: Paul Hampton, Joe Silver, Lynn Lowry, Alan Migicovsky, Susan Petrie, Barbara Steele, Ronald Mlodzik
Also Known As: The Parasite Murders, They Came from Within, Frissons

The early films of David Cronenberg’s career are a fascinating look into a style and approach to the off center filmmaking that he would later make an art form. Most of them are more raw than expected, taking his oddly deep commentaries and character development approaches and slathering them in borderline exploitative material. Shivers, the first of a series of films with much of the same tone and approach from this era, might be the first time where the balance started to show itself in an aggressive manner. On the surface, it’s a kind of zombie film that uses its limited budget and setting to establish a great approach to creating tension, but really deep down it has a lot of commentary about the human desire to push forward so far that it ends up resetting us to our primitive instincts (a theme that will run through a lot of Cronenberg’s career.) The results can be a bit mixed as the execution of the film can be a tad scattered, but considering its limitations Shivers is one of those great gems to be found in the cult undercurrent for those looking for it.

Bluebeard (2017)

Director: Lee Soo-yeon
Notable Cast : Cho Jin-woong, Kim Dae-myeong, Sin Goo, Song Young-chan. Lee Cheong-ah, Yoon Se-ah

Director Lee Soo-yeon returns with her first feature film since 2003's The Uninvited, with the mind-bending psychological thriller, Bluebeard. The film centers around Seung-hoon (Cho Jin-woong in a much deserved leading role), a colonoscopy doctor who ran his own facility in Gangnam, but closed down due to financial struggles, that finds himself in a small town area in Seoul that runs along the Han river where unsolved serial killing remains to this very day.

Unlike most horror flicks this day and age, Bluebeard is a slow burn, dripping with atmosphere and a very overwhelming sense of dread. It is shot brightly primarily and most of the outdoor scenes are filmed in the day, but Seung's world is inhabited by very odd people who give off unnerving vibes of utter creepiness. While doing his rounds on the patients one hot afternoon, an old man begins to confess the location of mutilated body parts scattered about the river and the city and, before you know it - going further than the advertised set up, Seung quickly finds himself wrapped up in sudden serial killing cases and things get really weird and spiral out of control in a mostly solid outing.

The King (2017)

Director: Han Jae-rim
Notable Cast: Jeong Woo-sung, Jo In-seong, Bae Seong-woo, Kim Ah-joong, Ryu Jeon-yeol, Kim Ee-seong

A masculine driven tale of rising to power and the corruption of law and justice, The King is a very entertaining and beautifully shot film that features a star studded ensemble that fires on all cylinders with powerhouse performances from its main players.

Jo In-seong is Park Tae-soo, a young man hungry for power and money, which he quickly achieves over a hustling study to pass the bar exam to become a prosecutor, after seeing his father slapped about and trembling in fear at the hands of a man with that very title one day.

Silver Fox, The (1968)

Director: Hsu Tseng-Hung

Notable Cast: Lily Ho Li-Li, Chang Yu, Huang Chung-Hsin, Yue Wai, Helen Ma Hoi-Lun, Tien Feng, Chiu Sam-Yin, Chiu Hung, Ma Ying, Lee Ho, Fan Mei-Sheng, Hung Lau

My expectations for The Silver Fox were mixed. The mid 60s for Shaw Brothers is a time where the studio was still finding their voice and approach to what they wanted to do as a film company, but by 1968, when The Silver Fox was released, the studio was starting to crank out some solid films in the wake of The One-Armed Swordsman and Golden Swallow so I wasn’t quite sure what kind of film that this one was going to be. In what seems to be a fitting manner, The Silver Fox is ultimately a little of both. There are moments where this film reaches some of the fun heights that this era of Shaw Brothers can hit, but it’s also dragging in some of its romantic melodrama and a bit inefficient in weaving its tale of revenge. Still, as a wuxia, The Silver Fox is a fun film with a lot of great treats for fans and worth the time.

The Prison (2017)

Director: Na Hyeon
Notable Cast: Kim Rae-won, Han Suk-kyu, Lee Kyoung-young, Jung Woong-in, Jo Jae-yun, Shin Sung-rok,Kim Sung-kyun

My first Korean film experience of 2017 is one of my favorites of the year so far, by way of the hard-hitting crime thriller, The Prison. Yoo-geon (Kim Rae-won), a once was detective, finds himself entering one of the roughest prisons on his side of the world to approach its king, Ik-ho (Han Suk-kyu), the untouchable man with more power than I've ever seen anyone have behind bars. Yoo-geon's agenda is unclear at first, but as the film carries on and unfolds over the following 2 hours, the pieces come together and reveal one of my favorite finales in recent memory.

Creeping Garden, The (2014)

Directors: Tim Grabham, Jasper Sharp

Now that Arrow Academy has expanded their reach to the US borders, it has certainly opened up what we are planning to cover on Blood Brothers. For their latest release, The Creeping Garden, we are further digging into new territory by covering a documentary. If memory serves, we have only covered one other documentary on the site (although that might be a lie) and going into The Creeping Garden was not necessarily an event that I was “excited” for per se. The Creeping Garden, however, had me engrossed almost immediately. Perhaps one of the issues I have always had when I watch documentaries is that they are on a subject matter I am normally interested in or already have a background for reference, but the focus on slime mold for this one most certainly had me perplexed, engaged, and questioning so much that I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the film. And it's executed in a way to make sure that the audience is left hanging on the edge of something to keep them interested in a topic that normally would make an audience snooze off. Talk about a surprise for the year.

Contract to Kill (2016) / End of a Gun (2016)

I am ashamed. Part of my shame comes from enjoying B-action movies so much. Most of that shame arrives in the form of how much time I devote to downright awful modern Steven Seagal films. The problem that arises in my reviews of these films is that I essentially say the same thing time and time again. So for this latest entry, I’m just going to review the last two films released that star Seagal in one review. Saves me time, it saves you time, and I don’t have to repeat myself until the next round of films comes out.

Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying (2017)

Director: Jian Yong Guo

Notable Cast: Mou Li, Zhi Hui Chen, Hao Ran Sun

The second of the two HBO Asia original films, Master of the Shadowless Kick: Wong Kei-Ying is of the same ilk as its predecessor Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So, but with a slightly different approach. Like the other film of this duel set, Wong Kei-Ying is based on a classic Chinese folk hero in a modern retelling of a classic tale. It features a low budget with some generally melodramatic made-for-TV executions that may rub viewers the wrong way. If you have reservations with that or have no interest in traditional martial arts cinema, then this one might be a skip. For me, Wong Kei-Ying actually shows improvement over Beggar So by trimming a lot of the fat and focusing down a bit more on a more dynamic narrative – even if that narrative remains decently predictable by kung fu flick standards. It’s one of those films that will mostly interest kung fu fans, but for that niche it remains entertaining enough for the watch even if it is hardly the best version of this character that has been put to film.

Moontrap: Target Earth (2017)

MOONTRAP: TARGET EARTH

Aka "Moontrap 2: Target Earth"

One of my favorite genre mash-ups is when horror and science fiction collide and it seems some of my guilty pleasures from the late 80s and 90s of this genre intertwining have been getting long delayed sequels. Long delayed crummy direct-to-video sequels but sequels none-the-less. The first that comes to mind is the 2009 sequel “Screamers: The Hunting” to the 1996 underappreciated sci fi/horror gorefest “Screamers”. However that hunk of junk doesn’t hold a candle to this quietly released follow-up to the 1989 killer cyborgs on the moon/Bruce Campbell supporting cast vehicle “Moontrap”.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Notable Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, Brie Larson, Jing Tian, Toby Kebbell, John Ortiz, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Shea Whigham, Tomas Mann, Eugene Gordero, John C. Reilly

There are essentially two kind of King Kong movies. You have the more serious adventure ones that mean to paint Kong as a kind of tragic figure who is betrayed by humanity which is represented by the original 30s version and Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake. Then you have the silly Kong films, best represented by the Toho versions (King Kong vs Godzilla and King Kong Escapes) and to a lesser extent King Kong Lives. While the initial trailers made out the latest Kong film, the second in Legendary’s new expanded Monsterverse that includes 2014’s Godzilla, to be something more serious and drawing on plenty of Vietnam war imagery, this film is far more akin to the latter films than the previous. This is not a remake. This is not some kind of morality tale outside of the subtext. This is a giant monster film. This is pure kaiju cinema worship and it never takes a breather from its intent as being an entertaining popcorn flick. Don’t expect to be blown away by thoughtful characters, dynamic plotting, or even logical progression because that is not what Kong: Skull Island is about. This film is about big monster fights and giving the audience their money’s worth in outrageous entertainment.

Girl with All the Gifts, The (2017)

Director: Colm McCarthy

Notable Cast: Sennia Nanua, Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine, Glenn Close, Fisayo Akinade, Anamaria Marinca, Dominique Tipper, Anthony Welsh

For a while there, thanks to shows like The Walking Dead, zombies came back as all the rage. Sure, that trend perhaps started with Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, but it finally started to die out a few years ago as the casual horror viewer moved onto other trends like vampires, werewolves, or the current demonic ghost/witch that is haunted up the cineplexes. Thank God. It was getting to the point that I just didn’t give a shit about zombies anymore and being raised on the genre, it felt a bit like betrayal. Still, there are a handful of zombie films that pop up now and again, but they are usually of a higher quality and a bit more effective. Last year we got the South Korean melting pot Train to Busan which was excellent and effective at its use of modern zombies. This year, we already have a runner to be the zombie flick to beat, The Girl with All the Gifts. Unlike Train to Busan, The Girl with All the Gifts attempts to use its zombie tropes and superb execution to take the genre into some familiar, but fresh feeling territory. At its heart, it might still be a Day of the Dead kind of zombie film, but its attempts at crafting a social commentary and very impressive characters makes it a heartfelt and emotional film worthy of the praise it has already been receiving.

Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So (2017)

Director: Jian Yong Guo

Notable Cast: Zhi Hui Chen, Jun Cao, Mei Ying Wang

When HBO Asia announced that they would be getting into the exclusive content trend with a couple of films based on Chinese folk heroes, I must admit that I was pretty excited. Not that I was expecting these films to be award winning or even all that great in quality, but the idea that martial arts films were going to be a growing commodity and even get a US release was one I can get behind. The first of the two films for this double header was Master of the Drunken Fist: Beggar So, based on the folk hero that serves as an origin story of sorts. The film itself is a mixed effort, suffering from its low budget and some cheesy stylistic choices, but all in all it remains an entertaining film that has enough charm and fun moments to not be a total bust.

Don't Knock Twice (2017)

Director: Caradog W. James

Notable Cast: Katee Sackhoff, Lucy Boynton, Javier Botet, Nick Moran, Jordan Bolger, Pooneh Hajimohammadi, Richard Mylan, Ania Marson

Looking back, I guess it’s pretty easy to say that the new trend in horror is creepy and demonic witches. Replacing the long dark haired young girl ghosts and pretty vampires of the last few trends, this does seem to be a welcome change of pace as it feeds into the recent trend of atmospheric horror that dominated the genre last year. The latest entry into this style is Don’t Knock Twice. Don’t let the gimmicky, tongue-in-cheek, throwback title fool you though, Don’t Knock Twice is less about being a quirky homage to decades prior of the entire ‘don’t’ title horror movement and instead it’s a modern atmospheric witch film to be lumped in together with the likes of Lights Out or the recent spin on Blair Witch. Of course, that does mean that the film does have a certain mainstream consumable nature to the entire thing with its high production values and easy to understand plotting. However, it does retain a few aces in its sleeve to make it a fun and enjoyable horror experience and one that deserves more attention than it has received thus far.

Logan (2017)

Director: James Mangold

Notable Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal

The X-Men franchise has seen its ups and downs, but it’s only when one of the entries into this almost 20 year franchise takes a risk on something new that it finds itself resonating after the fact. Outside of X2, which remains perhaps the purest and most potent of the basic formula, these chances have paid off. The time setting and new cast in First Class, the time hopping nature and epic tone of Days of Future Past, or even the samurai cinema motifs of The Wolverine have made the franchise worth following even if it occasionally stumbles into some rocky territory of execution (I’m looking at my copy of X-Men: Apocalypse right now.) The latest entry into the series and third for the spin-off franchise to feature Wolverine as the lead character is not only one of those films that takes a chance with its western style inspiration and R-rating, it’s the best that this franchise has seen thus far. Logan is a film that not only entertains in an action film manner and quirky humor that has always come with Wolverine as a character, but its messages of a life time of violence and regret, partnered with a focus on familial drama, and a timely expansion of its X-Men themes that make it piece of cinematic art that will last longer than any of the previous entries. This is not only an X-Men spin off, this is truly a film that encompasses the heart and soul of a character bound for the history books and it’s executed with the precision and artful grace of inspired cinema. Logan is not only the superhero film we all wanted, it’s the superhero film that this genre desperately needed.

Headshot (2016)

Directors: Timo Tjahjanto, Kimo Stamboel

Notable Cast: Iko Uwais, Danny Pang, Julie Estelle, Very Tri Yulisman, Zack Lee, David Hendrawan, Epy Kusnandar

The Mo Brothers have impressed me since I saw Rumah Dara (the short film) years ago. Onward with the full-length feature, Macabre, I sank myself into the world of Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel's twisted minds. A few years later, they unleashed Killers, and while I don't love it quite as much as I did on initial viewing, it's still quite solid. Needless to say, when their project The Night Comes for Us (with Joe Taslim of The Raid and Fast and Furious fame) went under, I was gutted. Also, like their fellow director and friend, Gareth Evans (The Raid), the Mo Brothers had a plan B for their failed project, and that comes by way of Headshot a.k.a by far the best thing the Mo Brothers have done to date.

War of the Worlds - The Final Season (1989-1990)

WAR OF THE WORLDS - THE FINAL SEASON

After surprisingly enjoying the first season more than I thought I would, I was eagerly awaiting to see how the show panned out in it’s second and final season. Well to my surprise the producers decided to COMPLETELY CHANGE THE FUCKING SHOW! Seriously I have never seen a show have more of a tonality shift between seasons than with this second season of War of the Worlds. One can easily tell I was not happy with the changes and the proved this was the FINAL season for a reason.

War of the Worlds - The Complete First Season (1988-1989)

WAR OF THE WORLDS - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

The 1953 film adaption of H.G. Wells’ classic alien invasion novel “The War of the Worlds” left a deep impression on me when I was a child as I watched it numerous times with my father. I also have vague memories of watching this late 80s sequel television series with him as striking images of grotesque three fingered creatures grasping for victims implanted themselves in my memory. After rewatching the classic original film with my wife I figured it was time to revisit those vague nostalgic memories of the television show by viewing both seasons which I received as a birthday present. Well my memories were not distorted by time as the show was every bit as graphic as I remember and even being a tad better than I was expecting for a late 80s late night Canadian produced television program.

Iron Monkey, The (1977)

Director: Chen Kuan-Tai

Notable Cast: Chen Kuan-Tai, Kam Kong, Wilson Tong Wai-Shing, Shut Chung-Tin, Leung Kar-Yan (Beardy), Chi Kuan-Chun

Also known as: Iron Monkey, Bloody Monkey Master, The Iron Monkey of Shaolin, School of Shaolin

The Iron Monkey is a film that always seems to come with the highest of recommendations from kung fu fans. However, my initial viewing of the film, some ten years ago, wasn’t one that left a mark on me. It was good, but your standard kung fu flick. So, it was high time to revisit the film and see if it would have improved over time, remain in the same echelon, or fall to being one of those overhyped flicks made popular by the will power of a vocal few. Fortunately, The Iron Monkey is a film that I found more impressive this time around than I did the first time as it plays its style loose and straight forward. It is not, however, the instant classic that belongs in the upper levels of the genre that I find so many fans claiming. If anything, the film is fun and shows a lot of interesting character depth that makes it solid watch and if a viewer goes into it with that mindset then The Iron Monkey is a film eager to please.

XX (2017)

Directors: Roxanne Benjamin, Sofia Carrillo, Karyn Kusama, Annie Clark, Jovanka Vuckovic

Notable Cast: Natalie Brown, Melanie Lynskey, Breeda Wool, Christina Kirk, Michael Dyson, Sheila Vand, Mike Doyle, Susan Jacobs, Angela Trimbur, Kyle Allen, Peter DaCunha, Peyton Kennedy

At this point, the horror anthology has become something of a gimmick. Not that I’m complaining, far from it as I love short horror films and these kinds of anthologies give young and/or upcoming artists a chance to strut their stuff in front of a larger audience. Yet, at this point they have become such a regular occurrence that the marketing and approach must rely on a hook to attract its audience. For XX, the idea behind its series of short films is that they are all directed by women. While the fact that this even should exist as a “gimmick” irritates me to some degree (the gender gap issue in the film industry is a huge problem and one that needs to be rectified immediately), but it’s wonderful that this film wanted to showcase four very talented film makers in this manner. It helps that XX is a great horror anthology too. It’s not perfect as a film on the whole, lacking the narrative flow to get all the segments to work together, but each one is an entertaining romp of a different approach that does its job as a short horror film. Horror fans will find something to love here and it comes with a strong recommendation.