The Lodger Review

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The Lodger is one of those films that tests each character’s ability to read the room. If there is a mass murderer on the loose and someone started acting really shady, would you be ready to make an accusation or keep waiting for more evidence? The way the film plays out, there is only one suspect throughout the movie so you have to decide if this guy is guilty or if it’s a massive red herring. There are a few ways it could play out even with how obvious it seems and in a way this helped the movie stay interesting.

The film starts off by explaining that there is a mysterious mass murderer on the loose. This guy has been exclusively targeting women in dark alleys when they are away from any other bystanders. Unfortunately the city has a lot of fog and nobody assumes that they will be the next victim so people keep going into dark alleys. The main character here is a lady named Kitty who has built a successful career for herself through dancing. One day her house gets a new tenant by the name of Slade. Slade is often going from house to house as his landowners tend to get tired of him for some reason.

The guy runs rather dangerous experiments all the time so actually I think we’ve stumbled on the reason for why he has to vacate so quickly. He is constantly starting fires and burning things. Slade also isn’t very sociable so it is easy for rumors to start about him. For example the mass murderer is said to have a small leather book and Slade has one too. Slade quickly burns it afterwards but that’s an odd coincidence. Then he shows up with blood stains one day but burns those too. Hmmmmm.

As the film goes on, Kitty believes that Slade may actually be the mass murderer but she goes back and forth on this a lot. For the most part you could say that she is hoping that Slade isn’t the culprit. She thinks he’s nice enough and is probably just an eccentric. The maid is the one who has to keep pointing out how many of these coincidences are adding up but is dismissed each time by Robert. Robert always has an answer for everything even if the answers don’t make a lot of sense.

Slade is set up to be the murderer with so many obvious moments that you have to wonder if this is all setting up a massive fakeout. Either way you’re rooting for the cop to figure it all out. John is doing his best to stay on the case and put an end to the murders but it’s definitely not easy. There are just so many places to hide in an area like this and the weather doesn’t help.

John was smart enough to not give away his theory in public though. I was glad that he dodged the question when the main characters were all quizzing him because that would have been a real bad idea. You don’t get to be a big shot detective if you’re known for spilling the beans on everything after all.

As for the main villain, well the film definitely shows him to be as petty as possible. He has a long speech basically trying to say that the women are asking for it and he’s one of those really lonely, jealous guys. The whole thing makes him look absolutely puny and of course that’s the point. He’s only brave enough to attack when it’s one on one in the cover at night and the detective notices that he only strikes from behind. He needs the element of surprise in addition to everything else. This is not the kind of villain where you will have any sympathy for him. You’re just rooting for him to be knocked out the whole time.

The writing is solid though and this makes for a good old school thriller. It’s one of those very basic thrillers like the Raven film that I recently reviewed. There aren’t a lot of twists and turns to be had here. The film isn’t trying to break any records or do anything crazy either. It’s just giving you a suspenseful adventure where you wait to see if the heroes will put the pieces together before dying to this guy. Usually the main heroine may make it but how high will the body count get in the meantime?

This film also has one of those very sudden endings that you tend to see from old films like this one. There isn’t much of an epilogue or any sequel bait for this one. This is a stand alone adventure with a classic beginning, middle, and ending. It works well enough but if I had any nitpicks, it would be that I’d have liked to see more of the police investigation. Lets see a bit more about what John is doing in the background. Maybe have him start to close in on the case before the very end with the footprints.

I’d also have someone challenge Robert a bit more since that guy is the whole reason why this case was so close. If someone had forced him to admit to the possibility of Slade being the killer, then that would have been a pretty decent subplot. At least it would give Robert more of a role in the film because as it stands he didn’t get to do much of anything. He mostly only existed to be a thorn in the side of the maid and to make Kitty second guess herself. None of them had much in the way of survival instincts but at least they had some kind of instincts. Robert had none of that.

Overall, The Lodger is an interesting film. If you were not big on letting a stranger stay at your place, watching a film like this certainly wouldn’t help you get over that fear. Personally I’ve never been big on having roommates in general. Even aside from the danger, I just like having everything set up my way with as much freedom as possible. Having someone else staying over will always change that dynamic. Of course these characters should have done something once there was smoke going through the house but they took a very cautious approach all the way.

Overall 7/10

The Raven (1935) Review

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It’s time for another film titled The Raven. This one isn’t actually based on the Poe story though and focuses more on a character who is a fan of it. It’s an interesting approach and the film ended up being pretty good so I guess this direction was a good idea. The characters tend to make a lot of dumb mistakes but the writing on the whole is still good so I didn’t really have any big issues with this one. It should keep you pretty engaged the whole time.

The movie starts with a lady named Jean being badly injured in an accident and all the best doctors in the world are unable to heal her. Their only chance is Dr. Richard who retired a long time ago. He is a bit eccentric and downright sinister but Jean must be healed and so Judge makes a strong appeal to him. He’s able to play on Richard’s big ego and so Richard agrees. He heals Jean with ease but in the process falls in love with her. Richard wants to steal her away from the fiancé, Jerry at any costs. So he grabs a convict named Edmond and intentionally messed up his face in a surgery. Now the guy will be forever indebted to Richard and will work as his personal executioner. Can Jerry find a way to stop this guy?

That said, Jerry is pretty oblivious the entire time. He has no idea what is going on and is one of those guys who is a little too confident. Jean tells Jerry that she believes Richard has fallen for her and Jerry just laughs it off. He feels like any reasonable guy should fall for her and he doesn’t feel threatened in the slightest. His confidence is so high that he even agrees to stay the night at Richard’s place along with Jean and Judge. He better hope that Richard isn’t a crazy antagonist.

It’s a very old school attitude, that’s for sure. I wouldn’t even mind Jerry’s overconfidence if he would at least take precautions. The #1 precaution in this situation is certainly going to be declining any invitations to the guy’s home. At the very least you should really be building some serious distance there instead of making this so easy for the villain. Jerry is also knocked out rather easily when it comes time to defend his girlfriend.

As for Jean, well I have to give her some blame here too. Her instincts aren’t completely dead as she recognizes Richard’s obsession with her but then maybe she should be putting some more distance? She is borderline flirting with him the entire time, letting him get really close without saying anything. He basically says that he gave Jerry a job in exchange for losing her and Jean barely reacts. She still wants him to come watch the play and everything. Just not a whole lot of smart decisions going on here at all.

The only one who knew the danger from the start was the Judge. He really tries to get Jean and Jerry to leave the mansion but they just don’t take him seriously. Also they are adults so it’s not like he can just force them to leave. That’s probably the worst part of this whole affair. Ultimately he is no match for Edmond and goes down quickly. Part of me likes to think that he should have just left on his own but that’s not the heroic thing to do here.

As for Richard, well I don’t usually enjoy villains who just have romance on the mind. Jean is his entire goal in this whole affair and that doesn’t make for a very compelling villain. Richard just needed to accept the fact that she was never going to pick him in the end. He most likely would have just ended up murdering her once this sunk in. The guy should have been content to know that he saved someone when the rest of the medical community could not and called it a day there. He would have been a reasonable character at that point.

Finally we have Edmond who is really not that smart. Well I’ve been saying that for quite a few characters but he might take the cake. The guy knows that Richard can’t be trusted which is why he had a gun but still trusts the guy to do an invasive facial surgery? There’s nothing Edmond can do when he’s unconscious and you probably shouldn’t trust someone with a knife unless you are completely sure of their character. The whole thing was just such a bad look for him and his character route goes in a very predictable manner. At least he did make Richard sweat it out when he thought about finishing the guy off on one of the torture machines.

Now you may be thinking that this weak character roster would destroy the film but they were dumb in a fun way. The writing is still very sophisticated throughout. The dialogue is crisp all the way and the pacing is good. This feels like a very fun atmospheric horror film that gets the tension just right. It’s a horror style that you don’t see quite as much nowadays and I definitely miss it. I could watch these old horror titles all the time. They’re just really charming all the way with everyone being a little over the top.

Overall, this film may not be all that scary when you watch it nowadays but you can still feel the intent all the way. There was a lot of care put into the film and I had fun with it. The story is fairly straightforward so it all comes down to the execution and I didn’t think that the film had any big missteps there. What you see is what you get in a lot of ways as there aren’t really any twists and turns in the film. It showed that the writer had a lot of confidence in the story and as a result this one beats the average horror title. I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild Review

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Monster Hunter is one of those titles where the appeal is really obvious. The world takes place in a land where monsters roam the Earth and every adventure is going to be guaranteed to have some good tension. The film tries to walk you through one of those missions but doesn’t really match any of that intensity from the jump. It’s not like you absolutely had to make this ultra action packed or anything like that but you can’t help but feel a bit disappointed by the end of it. It’s a good film that leaves a lot of missed opportunities around the board.

The film starts off with some cocky hunters talking about how easy it will be to take down an elder dragon. A jaded skeptic tells them that it won’t be so easy as he recalls a time where he had to take one out as a rookie. The rest of the movie is this flashback so sadly we don’t get to see the big fight in the present. At first I thought it was going to go back to the present around the halfway point but that just wasn’t in the cards this time.

Aiden grew up as a kid who really wanted to be a monster hunter. He was in a fairly small village though so they didn’t have the resources or tools for something like that. Aiden did his best though and actually gained the trust of his fellow villagers but runs into a master hunter named Julius. Julius explains that the elder dragon Lunastra is approaching and will destroy everything in its path. The whole village needs to evacuate. The villagers don’t listen though and Aiden convinces Julius to stay and fight along with a few other hunters. Will they regret this?

Now I get wanting to fight a dragon because these are monster hunters. That said, it’s a bit odd for Julius to be convinced so easily. He would know best if this is a monster that can actually be defeated. Based on his initial reaction, this wouldn’t even be close to a full fight. So I feel like no amount of emotional pleas would sway him. Additionally, his mission is to warn all of the villages of the impending attack so by staying here to fight, those villages won’t have any advanced warning if he fails. There are a ton of risks at play here.

Logically you would expect a monster hunter to be able to take on just about any monster but if even a master can’t, I don’t think Aiden would really be making much of a dent here. We do have some brief backstory hunts for Julius which also helps him sympathize with the kid though. Ultimately Julius is a pretty solid character. He has experience and has been fighting for a long time so the guy clearly knows what he is doing.

The other hunters who show up are pretty solid as well. Nadia has worked with Julius in the past and so the two have a lot of banter going on throughout the film. I’m always up for some quality banter so that was pretty fun. She also helps to calm Julius down when the guy is getting a little too agitated. Then we have Mae who is a solid hunter as well.

She is more interested in the research parts of being a hunter. She has a whole logbook and everything while still getting the job done. It’s clear that she is less experienced than Nadia though and still had a lot of hunting ahead of her. Her fighting style is fairly nimble so it’s hard for monsters to land a hit on her. Finally there is Ravi who is more of a builder but knows how to fight in a pinch. The guy really wanted no part of this fight but is essentially guilt tripped into it. This certainly isn’t the most imposing group of monster hunters to have been assembled but they will have to be enough to win.

As for Aiden, I have to deduct points from the guy for some of his mistakes. Look, the kid’s a rookie so I’m expecting some errors here and there. That said, it’s the kinds of errors that he makes which are a problem. There’s one scene where he doesn’t nail down the net because he just didn’t know that it was necessary. As a guy who professes to being a major hunter fan, that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. You can make some mistakes, but that’s not one of them.

He knows that the village is at risk so he should be carefully listening to all orders. It felt like his character wasn’t always consistent and that made him more annoying than he needed to be. In general the cast wasn’t all that bad but it does help to have a strong lead. Relying on supporting characters doesn’t work as well.

It also means that the film can’t jump into the big action scenes right away because we have a rookie to deal with. I think the power levels in this verse tend to be lower so the humans often have to use traps and such but I’d prefer a good ole fashioned fight.

In terms of the graphics, they’re only okay. This animation style isn’t the kind that ages super well unless you put a lot of money into it. The fights are okay when they happen but there is never a lot of fast movement here. As for the soundtrack, it’s more on the generic side. Nothing that will really catch your eye. The film also squeezes in some crude humor for some random reason. Nothing about this is a top shelf product.

At the same time, it’s still easy to follow the story and it’s fun enough. I do like the general world that the story is taking place in and I also appreciated that the villagers were at least a little reasonable. In other stories they might just start yelling and throwing a fuss. Instead they agreed to evacuate if Aiden gave the order and I was glad that they’d at least listen to one of their own.

Overall, This is a very forgettable film. It doesn’t really take advantage of what makes the series so interesting in the first place. There should have been more monster battles, flashier visuals, etc. That’s what you’re looking for in a title like this. As it stands, this will hold your attention but it’s really not going to do much more than that. Show this to someone who wants a quick film to watch while eating lunch but otherwise get them into the main games instead.

Overall 6/10

The Blob (1988) Review

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This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a fairly iconic horror film. I think it’s reasonable to say that just about everyone has at least heard of the Blob even if they haven’t seen the film yet. I saw the original version a while back and it definitely clobbers this remake. The remake just doesn’t manage to match it in any individual area. It is having a little too much fun with the gruesome visual effects instead of letting the threat of the Blob speak for itself.

The movie starts with a meteor striking the planet. An old man finds a slime within it and is quickly taken over. Paul and his girlfriend Meg find the old guy and take him to a hospital but it’s too late. The blob melts straight through him and rapidly begins to expand. Meg goes to the local delinquent Brian for help. Brian doesn’t want anything to do with this. All his life he has been an outcast in the system and strikes back at everyone. Perhaps now he can finally do something heroic with his life though. He thinks long and hard about this before deciding to help out, but what can he do?

What makes the Blob dangerous is how it seems to absorb whatever you throw at it. It just keeps on growing and can also make some really fast movements in an instant. One second you think that you are safe and the next you are trapped within the cocoon. The Blob relies purely on instinct so while it is not a strategic mastermind, it’s still difficult to escape it. It makes for a fun villain even if it won’t stand out as much as other horror characters.

Like I said at the start though, the film spends too much time showing the slow melting effects of everyone who gets in its way. I would have preferred a much more delicate touch there. Just being absorbed is already scary enough so you don’t need to see the skin melting off or anything like that. This film isn’t generally a super violent one but those blob scenes can really hit you hard.

The humans aren’t super likable here but I suppose they could be worse. Paul seemed like a nice guy and unfortunately he just didn’t know enough about the Blob to last longer. Likewise Meg is also doing her best to do the right thing and try to spread the word about the creature. Brian has a rough start but ultimately does his best to help the town when it counts. It’s a good message about how everyone will unite to fight a common threat. He certainly helps more than the rest of the town who are mainly panicking.

As soon as the threat was over then you had people quickly taking charge again and talking confidently when they had been hiding just a minute ago. Sounds about right if you ask me. The biggest threat here in some respects were the government agents who show up. They are really just here to consider how the Blob could be used as a weapon and in a way it’s almost funny how nonchalant they are about this. They are quick to betray their own and escalate the situation.

I always appreciate having a third faction so I was glad to have them here. Honestly it’s not like I was fully expecting them to be helping out or anything like that. They were shady from the start and the local cop gets some props for being quick on the uptake about fighting them.

In general the characters were all pretty proactive. The sheriff did his best to try and find out what was happening and Brian using the cannon against the agents was another good move. If I have any nitpicks here, it’s that the government was a little too unprepared against the Blob. I know that he’s an anomaly that is fairly unknown to everyone but maybe don’t stand super close to it? As a trained agent I’d expect each member to be keeping a safe distance at all times.

The film actually has a big of a cliffhanger ending which was nice to see. It may not be the most explosive one out there but I thought it was interesting. In theory it’s not too scary at this point since the characters know how to fight the Blob but there is still a lot of potential there. With the right mutation, the Blob could be really scary once more.

In a way I guess a weakness to the film would be that it focused a bit too much on Meg and Brian. I’d have liked to see a bit more of the town’s struggle against the Blob. Due to the way the story turned out there wouldn’t have been too many opportunities for this but even just a few would go a long way. In the sewers there just weren’t as many opportunities to present this as more of an invasion film.

Also the scenario was a bit too tough on Meg so some plot armor had to show up. At one point she jumps in the water to try and save the kid but it was too late so she has to just swim away. It doesn’t make sense that the Blob wouldn’t have absorbed her there. Before now he was shown to absorb people in an instant with tremendous speed but somehow lost sight of her in the water. In a thriller there will always be some scenes to nitpick but this was a fairly big one since it was a very plot important scene. They could have made the Blob weak to water or something but the film established the opposite.

Overall, This isn’t exactly a film that I would watch for a second time but it wasn’t as bad as you would expect a horror remake to be. It did succeed in being a fairly intense film and one that can really be called scary. I’d have liked them to have dialed back the gruesome visuals to an extent though. There are so many ways to have characters being absorbed without being very violent about it. The characters weren’t so bad outside of oneshot characters and the movie avoided landing in any of the really big traps. It beats the average horror film which is a small consolation prize at the very least. If they ever make another Blob film, I’d like them to focus more on the town’s response as opposed to just a few characters. Maybe even have it from the government’s point of view because the secret task force that showed up was really interesting. They could have used more screentime.

Overall 4/10

Cujo Review

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This review is of the TV-14 version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a very infamous horror film. Cujo is one of those movies that just about everyone has heard of, but does anyone really like it? The film’s general premise was enough for me to know that this would be a stinker but it was still time to finally check it out. Unfortunately the film is not able to surpass its limits and ends up being exactly what you would have expected out of it. Unlikable characters, excessive violence, and a generally cold atmosphere? Yeah this is a Stephen King adaption all the way.

The movie starts by introducing us to the characters. Vic and Donna lead a fairly quiet life with their young son Tad. Unfortunately Donna has grown bored over the years and has been cheating on her husband with the local bum. Then the local mechanic is an abusive guy named Joe who makes his wife’s life as unbearable as possible. He owns a dog named Cujo who is bitten by a bat with rabies. Now Cujo is morphing into a monster who wants to murder everyone. Unfortunately Donna and her son are stuck in a car with nowhere to go, so surviving this won’t be easy.

Lets get the obvious issues out of the way first. That would start with the animal violence Cujo gets bit early on and as the film goes on he is covered in more and more blood and other special effects. The film is trying to make him look as gruesome as possible so that you try to avoid eye contact. He is also mauling people to death so you can throw in a lot more violence there as well. The humans inevitably have to fight Cujo so he takes on more injuries that way as well. There’s no real saving that kind of violence and so this was already a doomed feature.

Then you have the whole cheating plot which doesn’t add anything to the film. I guess the intent might to be to try and make Donna less sympathetic so that you can root for the dog but that’s a real mixed message if I’ve ever seen one. Another theory might just be to show the jaded approach that everyone has some kind of darkness within them but that’s high school level edginess. Either way it’s a terrible plot and makes Donna look terrible. There’s just no way to be ready to forgive her so easily no matter how much crying goes on after that. She threw away the whole family for a few minutes of fun.

There’s nothing really wrong with the kid. Tad is too young to understand anything that’s going on and mainly just gets in the way during the climax. There’s nothing he could have done to contribute though so I’m generally giving him a pass here. At least he wasn’t going out of his way to be annoying. As for Vic, well he’s having a rather terrible time all around. The only thing left to him is his job and things aren’t going well there either.

Ultimately Vic decides to try and make things work and that’s a bit hard to swallow but I suppose it’s his decision in the end. He’s easily the most sympathetic character here. Then you have Joe who is really just here as another example of an absolute waste of space. There are way too many terrible characters in this film. More victims for Cujo I suppose but it does make all of the human scenes pretty unbearable. The writing is obnoxious throughout and even for a slasher you want to have some likable characters at the ready. It takes a while for Cujo to start on the rampage after all so you’re stuck with these guys in the meantime. It’s not like the massacre helps the film by any means but it shows that you are stuck between two really rough sides of the movie as a viewer. On one hand you have the terrible human stuff and then you have the over the top violence with Cujo. Game over either way.

It is an interesting premise to have the characters stuck in a car with no motor with Cujo right outside. It’s definitely a scary situation with no easy way out. I do think your best bet is to make a run for it while Cujo is distracted by the phone but Tad is a liability there as well. He can’t run very fast and is also suffering from heatstroke. So Donna would have to carry him while running fast enough to then lock the door.

It’s also probably tempting to wait in the car and hope that someone will arrive in time. So that’s the one thing I’ll give the film some slight credit for. It still loses most of that credit by not having a second adult in the car so the two could plan things out. Since Tad isn’t ready to talk about this, it means we have a lot of quiet scenes rather than cool planning sessions.

As for the execution, there’s definitely some plot armor here. I don’t see Donna being able to fight the dog off once he had the upper hand. Would have made more sense if she landed the first shot but once a dog is already biting you, I feel like the odds of victory are incredibly slim. Especially since Cujo was amped up with the virus.

Overall, This is the kind of film that only has a chance if you don’t mind the animal violence. It’s automatically knocked out otherwise and that’s before going into the human characters. The ultimate objective of a film is to be entertaining after all and this one was not able to pull that off. If you really want to watch a film starring a dog, then I’d say to check out Air Bud instead. That one’s a solid feel good film all the way after all. Maybe the Cujo remake will beat this one but honestly I don’t see it faring much better unless it takes significant liberties from the book.

Overall 0/10

The Twin Knights Review

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It’s time for the adventures of the Twin Knights! This one is sort of trying to tell a next generation story while keeping a lot of the fundamentals for original saga. You’ll definitely be able to see the similarities but the story is still different enough where it won’t be mistaken as a remake or anything like that. Unfortunately the old main characters are no longer able to contribute much, old age has really knocked them out of practice.

The series starts by explaining that Sapphire and Franz had two kids after becoming the king and queen of the land. These kids are Prince Daisy and Princess Violetta. Yeah if I was Daisy I’d probably want a do over on the name. Unfortunately the kingdom has very restrictive rules about how only a boy can grow up to be the ruler. Sapphire has aimed to change these rules for a very long time but I guess ruling the country isn’t good enough to pull that off. Unfortunately the Prince is kidnapped shortly afterwards by a group who wanted to keep the status quo in check so now Violetta must assume both roles. Can she pull that off?

I’d say the biggest problem with the premise right away is the fact that Sapphire and Franz should have absolutely had enough power to stop these old traditions by now. It feels like the evil kings and queens in these stories are always able to do whatever they want and then the heroic ones just don’t try hard enough. Not a very good look for them. Sapphire and Franz spend the rest of the story being blackmailed and poisoned so that’s how they are written out.

You’d think that the blackmail would not be effective anymore once you’re literally being murdered. At that point you just have to let the blackmail get exposed and play your cards as well as possible. There isn’t really any kind of upside to just listening to the blackmail at that point. Both of these characters were fighters in the original series as well so that would have been useful here.

While it may sound like this series will be divided 50/50 between the two main characters, Daisy’s screen time is far less than Violetta’s. He vanished for pretty much all of the middle act of the story and Violetta really has to carry the adventure. Daisy’s a solid enough character though. He ends up being a bit annoying as the kid for most of this like when he keeps disobeying his mother to go out into the forest and hunt deer. Of course he didn’t realize that his adopted mother was a deer but either way he shouldn’t have been out hunting. Not a smart move on his part.

As he grew up, Daisy gradually got to be a bit better but it was hard to get past that first impression. He does help with the fighting though so I’ll give him that. As for Violetta, well she had to grow up with a whole lot of pressure on herself. Trying to live two different lives is really difficult and you can’t let the mask fall at any moment. She’s not exactly prepared for any of these situations but ends up taking them pretty well in stride.

Then we have the best character in the series, Emerald. She takes Violetta in when the heroine is in a tough spot and sticks with her through to the rest of the adventure. She is a good fighter and is quick on her feet. Emerald never bows to any customs or norms and just keeps on going strong. I’m glad she got to have one of the happier endings in the series as Emerald will continue to live life on her own terms. That’s the best way to go and it also made a huge difference for Violetta being able to have at least one friend during the journey.

The artwork is definitely very retro. It’s like reading an old comic both with the paneling as well as the general art. It’s naturally not going to be able to match up to the more modern titles but still looks good and makes for an easy read. You’ll be blasting through the story at top speeds and there are no moments that hold it back a whole lot. What you have here is a consistently solid story all the way through. It should be memorable enough but I think that is in part due to the fact that I have not read through too many of the really old manga. It might lose some uniqueness by the time I’ve gotten through more of them.

While the series is definitely lighthearted with a fun tone, you may be surprised at the death count here. At one point a few of the chefs decide not to help in poisoning the king/queen and so they all get executed. Daisy’s adopted mother also ends up dying due to a deal she made where she could be a human during the night as long as the prince didn’t find out. Once he did end up finding out, then the curse activated so she ended up dying. It’s one of those things that can just take you a bit by surprise because usually things would end up a bit happier.

The supporting characters definitely tend to be really passive though. It’s still hard to believe that the king and queen just watched their kingdom get taken over and slowly grilled into the ground. There were so many things they could have done instead of letting this all just go crazy. The kingdom needed to fight and you’d think that there would be more loyal retainers at the ready. In a way I guess you could make the case that the king and queen actually didn’t do a good job of ruling and that’s why things got so bad. If two random people can go rogue and take over the kingdom then that’s definitely a problem.


Overall, I’d say this was a fun title. It definitely moves really fast and always has a bit of a frantic atmosphere going on. It may not end up being an all time classic but as long as you’re looking for a retro adventure with royalty then this is a good title to read through. In a sense it’s not like there’s a whole lot going on despite the frantic pacing as it plays out more like a serial but that also means there will never be a moment of boredom. You’ll definitely be judging the prior main character pretty harshly though and that’s fair. It would have been nice to have seen her get into the action even if this isn’t really that kind of series.

Overall 6/10

Follow Me Quietly Review

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It’s time for a very old school Noir title. It’s a pretty fun film and will keep you on the edge of your seat but I have to admit that it has one big issue. The film’s just too short. In a way I’d say it’s a complement to the film but the whole thing just ends before you can have a proper climax. It’s like the movie was building up to a really big showdown but then ends during the build up. I suppose it makes the film feel like it ends in a pretty clever way.

The movie starts by introducing us to a mass murderer named The Judge. He randomly murders people during rainy nights and so far the cops have been completely unable to stop him. Somehow this villain is always a few steps ahead. The main cop on the case is Harry and he is at his wit’s end. He knows that this case shouldn’t be quite so hard. Usually he struggles to get just a little bit of evidence but this time he has almost too much. And yet, he has still been completely unable to catch this guy. A reporter named Ann keeps on pestering him for a scoop as well and while he likes her romantically, Harry is against everything she stands for. What can he do?

I do have to say that the romance is pretty terrible here. Not only is it rushed but it just makes Harry look so bad. He really doesn’t like the kinds of newspapers that rely on terror and clickbait headlines. It’s why he is so upset at Ann the whole time and then he does a complete 180 because he finds her pretty? It’s all just a big mess and Ann looks far too desperate with how far she is willing to go in order to publish her story. As a result none of the characters come out looking like winners here.

Even by the ending you’d think that Harry would need time to process what just happened and instead he’s looking forward to his date. This is the kind of romance that feels like it’s included in the film to meet a checkbox as opposed to being necessary to the plot. Not a strong foundation to a plot like this. So the film is at its best when it is avoiding the romance. The classic plot of a detective/cop starting to go mad as he gets really obsessed with catching the crook is a classic.

Harry just can’t sit still until this guy is caught and it makes for some good tension. His partner on the force keeps telling him to relax but Harry will do no such thing. He even comes up with the idea of making a dummy that looks like the Judge based on witness testimony. It feels like a bit of a stretch for this to even be slightly helpful because dummies just aren’t all that realistic. Still, I suppose it’s better than nothing. At least Harry is trying to be innovative here.

There is one scene in the film that stretches your disbelief a little too much though. The Judge trades places with the Dummy for a while and nobody notices even when talking to the dummy. Again, the film is trying to show just how realistic the dummy is but I think everybody can tell when they are talking to a dummy vs a real person. Maybe I’m giving them too much credit I suppose.

The writing is good throughout and the pacing is good, up until the film just suddenly ends. It was nice to see the cops slowly figuring things out with old fashioned methods like interviewing witnesses, door knocking, etc. I mean that’s a good approach and the film didn’t have to get super flashy or anything. I thought the whole thing was pretty realistic and satisfying to watch as well. It’s why I had no real issues there at all. This is a film that is easy to watch and it’s just fun all the way.

There is a body count and so the film isn’t all fun and games. Still, it never really goes too far at all and is mostly interested in telling a good story. The climax is just anti climactic as we finally meet the villain. The main character also looks incredibly sloppy in order for the final scenario to happen at all. It’s why it’s always better to totally handcuff someone instead of half heartedly hand cuffing one hand. I’m sure there is some kind of logic to it but I’ve always been super skeptical myself.

The film has a very small cast which makes sense with the short runtime. So the only way you won’t like this film is if you’re super against the romance. I will acknowledge that the opening scenes with the duo are absolutely brutal as Harry tries to make the reporter as uncomfortable as possible and the whole thing feels real unnecessary. I think he could have stood to show more professionalism there and she absolutely didn’t need to be begging for the story that hard. She mentions that she really needed the money but you want to be careful not to use that as a justification for just anything.

Meanwhile the villain gets almost no screentime but that works towards the mystery. His identity is a secret to the viewers as well as to the characters. It really makes him feel that much more elusive and you don’t need a backstory for a villain like this. All we need to know is that he’s a crazy serial killer who needs to be stopped. The simplicity of the whole thing is part of the film’s strength.

Overall, This was a pretty good film. It’s one of those totally obscure/random titles that ended up being a real hit. I had never heard of this one before but I like to think that I won’t be forgetting it anytime soon now. If you like the Noir genre then I would recommend this one. Short length or not, it has an interesting premise and the rainy atmosphere worked well here. It would be tough for a remake to be able to match this one.

Overall 7/10

The Last Voyage of the Demeter Review

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This review is of the TV-14 version of the movie. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a Dracula film. Usually these don’t end up going over so well and it’s safe to say that I had a lot of reservations about it. Still, that doesn’t mean that the film was completely doomed right? There was still a chance for this to move forward but as the film went on, I knew that it was not going to surpass my expectations This one just plays out like your typical slasher.

The movie starts off with the wreckage of a big boat washing up to the shore. The cops arrive to investigate what happened and only find a journal along with a guy who has gone crazy. We then rewind to the beginning of the film where the Demeter is preparing to go on another voyage. This will be the last one for the captain because then he intends to retire and spend some time with his family. Clemens is just barely able to join the crew when a bunch of them desert the ship because of bad omens and superstitions. Clemens isn’t worried about those kinds of things but once the ship reaches the middle of the ocean, weird things begin to happen. People and animals start to get viciously murdered and a lady is found in the luggage area who talks very cryptically about the whole situation. The crew will have to try and band together in order to fend off this threat, but can they really use their teamwork to pull this off?

There are a lot of issues here of course but the biggest one right away is how doomed the characters are. Dracula may not be invincible in the way that the Ring or the Grudge is but he is still far beyond the abilities of a mere human. Bullets can take him out with enough shots but nobody is getting more than one or two. Most of them just have knives at the ready which is not very helpful. Dracula is much faster and stronger than any of the humans and can also fly. So you are really just following the futile journey of a bunch of sailors who are desperately trying not to be murdered. Not a very fun journey right there if you ask me.

Then there is the fact that the film is quite violent. This is one of those titles that is not holding back at all so each of the murders are quite grisly and detailed. It’s the films way of showing you just how dangerous Dracula is but that’s always the lazy way out. You don’t need to make a film be quite this violent in order to get that message across. Then of course you have the animal violence as well. As soon as I saw that a dog was on the ship, I knew it would go down that route. The film doesn’t even allow any mercy for the kid who is on the ship.

This one’s just going as grim dark as possible the whole time. Again, this is all within the context that the humans have no possible way of escaping Dracula. They’re in the middle of the ocean after all and Dracula will just hop on any life boats. So all they can do is wait for the end which is a rather miserable way to go out. The entire film takes place on a boat as well so it’s not like there are any subplots or changes in scenery to distract you with.

The only solid I would probably give the film is the ending. I thought it was reasonably exciting as a cliffhanger to set up a sequel that’ll never happen. Going in a more action packed direction is a good idea even if I admit that it would be fairly relative. I just don’t think the film would end up being very good either way. I could be wrong of course but that’s the general vibe I get from this kind of title at least. The writing is okay I suppose but the pacing isn’t great. Most of the characters don’t really get to make a name for themselves and they’re constantly instigating fights. Dracula isn’t even mind controlling them or anything like that.

None of the crew look particularly good but I would argue that Anna could have been a lot more helpful. She at least knows all about Dracula and his plans but doesn’t let the others in on it until the end. It may not have helped much but at least give the others some kind of a fighting chance right? Then Clemens very clearly sees that something is on board but decides not to mention it and even acts in disbelief when someone else mentions seeing something similar. This group did not have very strong survival instincts.

The film could have at least given him some kind of weakness to the stars so Clemens could use his astrology skills or something like that. A few of the crew members also talked tough but their knife skills were no match here. Dracula doesn’t even have the cool, regal design that you’re used to from titles like Castlevania. That would have been a nice bonus if you ask me.

I guess one last thing I’ll say is the film does remind me why I’d never want to be on a long voyage like this. A cruise is one thing. The ship is so big that it feels like being in a hotel but a boat like this? I’d get massively seasick and then dealing with all of the rats would be a massive turnoff as well. I don’t see how you’d ever get any sleep and it’s not like you can bring an oven on board either. The food would be super limited. No part of that boat experience seemed like it would be any fun.

Overall, I would definitely say to give this one a full skip. While it is true that the story is tackling a different part of the Dracula experience than most other adaptions, it doesn’t do anything worth remembering. This is still a sub par film and that’s the most generous way that I can put it. This is the kind of film that you would probably want to skip even if it was on TV for free. It’s really hard to make a fun Dracula film and this one will have to go back to the drawing board. Better luck next time, it is Dracula so we know there will be another film within the next few years.

Overall 1/10

The Yellow Canary Review

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It’s time for a pretty old thriller. This is a film I had never heard of before so it’s always fun to discover something new. The Yellow Canary is a film about a kidnapping and the main character deciding to go rogue. It’s a pretty classic plot and one that can be really fun as long as the execution is good. I would say that the film handles it all pretty well so you should be on the edge of your seat.

The film starts off by introducing us to Andy who is a world famous singer. He’s won all kinds of awards and is ridiculously wealthy. Unfortunately he traded in his morals a long time ago and nowadays he greatly enjoys just indulging in every pleasure. He cheats on his wife, never visits his son, etc. Well one day his son is kidnapped and now Andy has to find the culprit before anything terrible happens. The randomer is stringing Andy along a lot and the cops say this is probably personal but aren’t offering a whole lot of help. The cops mean well but are just out of their depth. Andy will have to take some big swings here.

Now it is a bold approach to have Andy be so unlikable right from the start. Some characters might be a bit arrogant or something but the film goes out of its way to say that this guy has been completely corrupted by the money. I’d even say that a reoccurring theme of the movie is about how all of your friends are fake when you’re rich. In one way or another each of his friends tend to stab him in the back. I’d say at least Andy’s business partners seemed solid and if anything it was Andy who was abusing them the whole time.

Throughout the film Andy does do his best to find his kid, but that doesn’t automatically make him a good character. It just means that this was something super personal and he was going to solve the problem. Perhaps now that he has lost a lot of money by the end of the film he will readdress the priorities in his life. Andy may end up being a good character but I can’t really assume that just from the ending here. You’ll obviously still root for him over the kidnapper though.

Andy’s wife Lissa is upset at Andy the whole film but that’s really justified. I just wish she was able to keep it together a bit more when they were working on saving the kid. For example at one point she is able to grab her son but then panics about how she can’t leave Andy along when the villains are approaching. If Lissa had her way then they all would have been swarmed and defeated. She just seemed to lack a general sense of awareness for danger and I never like it when characters fall to pieces like that. It is unfortunately realistic but doesn’t make the whole thing any better.

As for the police detective Bonner, he is one of those characters who sounds good until you really think about it. He gives all of the textbook advice on not letting the kidnapper get what he wants and all that but has no plan beyond this. Bonner essentially tells Andy to sacrifice his kid to prevent copycat kidnappings. Yes, that is good advice for society but it’s not something that just about any father is going to listen to. It would just sound rather absurd on its face. Bonner is quick to deflect when Andy asks how often the strategy actually saves the kid. It’s clear that Andy will have to do this on his own.

Bake is constantly playing the victim card as he tells Andy to stop being a terrible person. The advice falls on deaf ears though and it really doesn’t hit because Bake continues to work for the guy. If Bake decided to quit that would be one thing but the longer he stays at the job then it makes the moral convictions fall flat. Lissa even calls him out on this and Bake just talks about how he is trapped. We see that he even steals money from Andy as the film goes on so that makes him look even worse. I really didn’t have anything all that positive to say about the guy. He’s easily one of the weakest characters.

Then you have Hub who is always ready to help but tends to take a violent twist on it. The guy is rather unhinged and seems to even enjoy the violence. You always want to be careful with someone like that around. While watching the film you have to try and figure out who the kidnapper is. Naturally he might not even be one of these immediate characters and could be a complete stranger. You’ll really have to go through the film to find out.

I’d say another solid thing about the film is that there aren’t many big leaps of logic for you to follow. The main characters didn’t even really make a mistake when it came to the kid being kidnapped. There was effectively nothing they could have done and then from there it made sense to follow the kidnapper’s instructions until they could find an avenue of attack. The most realistic part here may have even been that the heroes completely had no leads until the villain slipped up. His own arrogance was his downfall here.

The climax was also really solid. I was glad that one character wasn’t bluffing because that would have been a supremely terrible look. When your kid is taken, it’s naturally going to be time for extreme actions and I would expect you to be locked and loaded. There was no hesitation when it counted and it made the villain’s final speech that much more enjoyable. I definitely like it when the villain thinks he is completely invincible and about to claim victory when he’s actually delusional by that point.

Overall, I had a good time here. Andy is definitely not someone who is likable but you still want the kid to be okay so you’re forced to root for him via proxy. The movie keeps up a tense atmosphere throughout and the pacing is on point. The body count is even a bit higher than I was expecting. I don’t know why, but I just assumed there wouldn’t be much death or anything here. Maybe it’s just the way the film was playing out? It felt tense but in a more slow burn kind of way where the heroes would eventually stop the kidnapper before anyone would really have to die for it. By the second death, you quickly realize that this is not that kind of film. This one of those films that just feels like a really well rounded watch all the way through. As long as you enjoy these kind of retro thrillers then you should have a good time here.

Overall 7/10

Ace Attorney Review

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It’s time to dive into the first season of the Ace Attorney series. It was pretty cool finally getting to play the original trilogy a while back. I spent a good 100 hours on that title which is more than 99% of other titles. Visual novels are really built differently and so the anime was going to have a very tough time cramming all this content in. This one adapts the first 2 games in one shot which is extremely ambitious. I’d say that it is all handled well though. This is not exactly a top budget production but this show doesn’t really need to be. How good it is will come down to the story/writing.

The series starts by introducing us to Phoenix Wright, an up and coming attorney. He will be trying his first ever case and it’s a doozy. He has to defend his friend Larry Butts in a murder trial. That’s a really tough way to start because usually you’d want to start with something fairly minor. Fortunately Phoenix’s mentor Mia will be helping him out on the case. Basically Larry is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend and a very incriminating piece of evidence turned up. A statue that Larry had gifted her a while back.

The general format of the show is that we’ll get the allegation and then Phoenix will do some investigative duties on his side. He’ll talk to each of the witnesses and gather evidence that can be used to counter what had already been submitted. The rules of the court system are a bit different in this tile. It’s technically part dystopia as there are so many crimes that they have to be solved within 3 days. This is why you can just introduce evidence at any point and really get creative with it.

Naturally there is still a lot of corruption though. The prosecutors going up against Phoenix will often do whatever they can to win. Additionally the judge is very oblivious and doesn’t tend to be very helpful at all. He falls for each and every trap so in a way Phoenix is also going up against him in each of the cases. The jury doesn’t decide who is innocent or not, the judge carries all of those duties. Convincing him of the truth is paramount.

Like I mentioned before, the animation isn’t always the best. This one’s not all that flashy or anything like that and the movement can be a little stiff. Still, the artwork is good and the backgrounds are always really bright. I definitely didn’t have any issues with the series on a technical level. The soundtrack is also pretty good even if it does get completely outshined by the video games. The games had a much larger variety of fun tracks throughout and they all became pretty iconic for me. I think the show should have just brought them all back instead of only using some.

As far as the characters go, Ace Attorney has always had a really solid case. Phoenix is a main character who is easy to root for even if his inexperience does end up appearing a lot more often than you would have expected. I always pictured him as the absolute master type who was good at everything. Instead he does tend to panic a whole lot. He gradually gets more experienced as the cases go on but you could make the case that he is still at a disadvantage in each round and has to rely on a bit of luck in order to get ahead.

He likes to really believe in his clients which does help Phoenix have the moral high ground. I always thought it would be difficult to be an attorney because who wants to defend someone who is obviously guilty?? That dilemma is even addressed within the final case of the show. Phoenix also has to deal with a lot of abuse like getting whipped in the court room since the judge lets people do whatever they want. It’s definitely not an easy job.

His sidekick Maya is also a fun character. She’s fairly young and doesn’t have a law background but means well and always does her best to help. She has the ability to summon the spirits of the dead which is helpful on quite a few cases for when she switches with Mia. Maya also helps keep Phoenix current on what’s going on in the world. Without her always watching TV or wanting to go places, he wouldn’t have been around to take on a few of these cases.

While Mia doesn’t appear all that much, she is definitely a high quality character. She’s easily the best defense attorney in the series and it’s why she had to get written out early. With her on the scene a lot of the cases would be over in the blink of an eye. At least thanks to the supernatural elements of the series, she is still able to show up and contribute quite often.

As for Larry, well he’s always getting into trouble. The guy just can’t seem to help it and often times he is the direct cause of the issues going on. You won’t end up feeling all that bad for him as a result. If not for the personal connections he has with Phoenix and Edgeworth from back in the day, Larry really wouldn’t have much reason to have a big role in the show. Sometimes he is able to help out accidentally but it tends to be rare. He’s usually just here to complicate things.

Then we have 3 main antagonists in the season. First up is Edgeworth who used to want to be a defense attorney like Phoenix but for some reason he ended up being a prosecutor instead. This mystery gets a lot of screentime throughout the show. Edgeworth also used to be a man of principles but for some reason he is willing to win no matter what now. Something clearly changed him but finding out what that is will be very tricky.

What I really like about this guy is his confidence. Usually Phoenix is able to make big objections and even fire off anime styled wind blasts to knock over his opponents but Edgeworth is able to respond in kind. Edgeworth always seems to have an answer for everything that Phoenix throws his way. It shows just how versatile and dangerous Edgeworth is as an opponent. The backstory also helps to just make him a very well-rounded character.

Then we have Franciska who wants to rehabilitate the Von Karma name. She basically never loses a case and literally whips anyone who gets in her way. These violent tactics wouldn’t work in a standard courtroom but they definitely get the job done here. She’s easy to root for even if I would argue that her skills aren’t quite on Edgeworth’s level. Franciska is forced to go on a similar character arc to try and find the true meaning behind being a prosecutor but at least for now it hasn’t had time to move forward.

There is also the original Von Karma who makes of a really imposing villain. He has ties to Edgeworth’s backstory and also served as the guy’s mentor. Von Karma is big on absolute power and might makes right. He just barrels through his opponents and even pressures the judge to end things quickly. He makes for a great villain and is really fun to have around. It takes a lot of charisma to just dominate a courtroom the way that he does and the guy is also unapologetically evil.

Now lets go through the cases. The first one is about Larry being framed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend as we touched on before. It’s a fun way to start the season as the case is more on the basic side. You have to carefully consider all of the evidence and testimony to try and find a hole in t. In this series you generally know that the suspect is innocent, sometimes you even get to see that. The difficult part is figuring out a way to prove what you know. There are no real weak points to the case and it is a perfect one to introduce the series to someone who is just getting started.

The second case is about the murder of Phoenix’s mentor Mia. The suspect is her sister Maya for being in the room when it happened. You can also tell that this is really the first big case since it is 3 episodes while the original was just 1. As the series goes on, the cases would gradually get longer and longer. This one brought in our first big villain as well. There were quite a few colorful characters here and the fact that the crime happened in Phoenix’s office makes the whole thing more personal. It’s another solid case that also serves as a way to introduce some pretty big characters in Maya and Edgeworth.

Our third case introduces the Silver Samurai show which would end up being a big thing for the rest of the series. One of the stars is accused of murdering his co-star. There has been a lot of beef over the years so it’s easy to find a motive. Things don’t look good for this guy and Phoenix only gets involved because of Maya. Otherwise he was perfectly content to stay out of it. We also meet another supporting character named Oldbag. She’s a rather eccentric old lady who gets very obsessed. As far as the quirky characters go she tends to be a little less interesting. I’d also say that this case loses to the first two. I found the murder method to be really hard to buy. Now there is a certain level of disbelief for all of the cases since every character ends up looking like a complete genius but this one was pushing it a bit.

After that we get to the most important case in the series. Edgeworth is accused of murdering someone who was closely connected to the murder of his father. It looks like a classic case of revenge but Phoenix knows that it isn’t so simple. Edgeworth doesn’t even want him to get involved because of how personal it is, but Phoenix isn’t so easily dissuaded. This is a pretty long case since it has to go into the backstory as well as the main case. Phoenix also has to deal with Von Karma who is good at hiding evidence and fabricating other parts of it.

It’s a real interesting case and goes a long way to developing Edgeworth’s character. The general murder method and twists all line up pretty well too. You get the feeling that the villain was a bit sloppy here but as the characters get smarter and smarter, they’re bound to make a mistake somewhere. Phoenix is always ready to pounce on those mistakes.

After that we have a bit of a quieter case. Maya is suspected of murder again, this time of a doctor who went to her village to talk to the nurse that died a while back. It’s a bit of a long story but she was overworked and the doctor was blamed for the conditions that led to her death. He went here to talk to her spirit and clear his name but instead he just got himself into a lethal situation. Phoenix knows that Maya wouldn’t murder anyone, but Maya being possessed by another person? Well that’s another story. He also meets Pearl who really looks up to Maya.

Pearl has the same ability as Maya to bring back a dead spirit which Phoenix uses to talk to Mia once more. They have a pretty good setup right there. She may not be as fun as Maya but Pearl’s a good kid so I give her a thumbs up here. You can’t expect her to really be solving the cases or anything but she always keeps up a positive attitude. The case itself may not be as difficult as some of the others but they are all murder cases so the stakes are guaranteed to be high.

After that we have the circus case which is another big one. The magician is accused of murdering the ringmaster after someone saw him flying away. His act is about flying but of course it’s not like he has the actual ability of flight. Phoenix reluctantly helps the guy but it won’t be easy since everyone disliked him. The magician just came across as way too much of a jerk the whole time so it makes sense that everyone would turn against him. The end resolution for this one will also be a bit hard to swallow. It’s definitely creative though.

I always have to give the series credit for the quality writing throughout. The seeds of each mystery are always planted early on. You may not always be able to crack the case but usually the show makes it possible at least. In this case I enjoyed how smug the main villain is. He may not have been a overtly evil as most of the other ones but in that way it also does make him look more petty. This guy just blew his fuse whereas at leas the other villains all had grand goals.

Finally the season ends with a professional killer. Phoenix finds out that De Killer has been hired to murder someone and then he is now blackmailing Phoenix into getting an acquittal for his client. If Phoenix doesn’t win the case then he will murder Maya. Phoenix has never lost a case in his career so on the surface this sounds easy but as we’ve established, Phoenix is a man of principle. He doesn’t want to win if his client is actually evil and that’s where the problem is. Still, letting Maya die is not part of the plan so Phoenix will actually have to work with Edgeworth here.

This works perfectly well as the final big case because we’ve been waiting for a team up like this. You may wonder how a defense attorney can actually team up with a prosecutor but the show handles this very well. They are really able to work off of each other while not shirking their own duties. The tension was high throughout and De Killer works really well as one of the big villains.

Overall, Ace Attorney was a pretty fun show. It may not be ready for the likes of Liar Game or Death Note in terms of pure mind games but I always love a good trial. The writing is solid throughout and the cases are each given a lot of time to breath. Higher production values may have helped to get the show even higher but it’s still good enough to pass the time by. I would recommend this to anyone who likes watching court titles. The anime really does the whole process justice and I expect equally good stuff from the next season.

Overall 7/10