Day: October 11, 2021

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Movie Review

Demigod (2021) Movie Review ‘Creepy Horror’

Demigod – Creepy

 

Director: Miles Doleac

Writer: Miles Doleac, Michael Donovan Horn (Screenplay)

Starring: Rachel Nichols, Jeremy London, Elena Sanchez, Sherri Eakin, Miles Doleac, Manon Pages, Yohance Myles

Plot: Upon the death of her grandfather, a woman and her husband return to her birthplace in Germany’s Black Forest, only to find a terrifying secret awaits them.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Demigod starts when Robin (Nichols) and Leo (Myles) travel to Germany to return to Robin’s birthplace in the Black Forest. The place is filled with bad memories for Robin, with this only leading to an estranged group of people locking up the couple along with local Arthur (Doleac), his daughter, Tabitha (Pages) and Katya (Piper) in the middle of the forest.

The six people will find themselves in the middle of a game, created by witches who are looking to hunt them down for their own plans to summon their God.

Thoughts on Demigod

Characters & Performances – Robin is the wife of the couple returning to her birthplace, she had a reason for leaving because of her grandfather, now she is returning after his death, which will see the witches return to the area. She will need to use her knowledge of the local area to survive and learn about her place in the game. Rachel Nichols brings the biggest star power to this film, which will see her bringing everything to this role, showing the strength to survive and do the right thing, while showing the weakness placed on her character from the past. When it comes to the rest of the characters, we get the group being hunted, which will fall into the typical selection of people, that will get their moment, but are usually here for the body count, while the witches get to have their own differences, which will make them standout from each other.

Story – The story follows a woman who returned to her birthplace in Germany, only to find herself captured with a group of other victims for a game planned by witches, leading to a race to survive. This is a story that will dive into the idea that cults will need to follow a plan to summon their demons, while their victims aren’t just going to sit back and wait for them to complete their tasks. Most of the story does end up being the group needing to find their own way to survive, while encountering different hunters. This story does however fall into the trap that it does seem to rely on one person making everything happen, with a lot of the side material looking more like filler than the deeper side of the bigger story.

Themes – Demigod is a horror that will use the location of the Black Forest to show us how witches will be hunting their victims for the demon they believe in. when it comes to the horror, we might not get the most suspenseful horror, but we get the black splatter coming along to give us the gore need for what is going on within the forest. The forest is used for the beautiful cinematography used giving us a couple of the best shots in horror this year too.

Final Thoughts – Demigod is a creepy horror filled with beautiful shots, but a thin story holds it back from true greatness.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – K – Killer Mermaids (2014) Movie Review

Director: Milan Todorovic

Writer: Barry Keating, Milan Konjevic (Screenplay) Marko Backovic (Story)

Starring: Kristina Klebe, Franco Nero, Natalie Burn, Dragan Micanovic, Miofrag Krstovic, Slobodan Stefanovic

Plot: Two young American women go on a Mediterranean vacation and uncover the watery lair of a killer mermaid hidden beneath an abandoned military fortress. What was once a carefree adventure becomes a deadly fight for survival.


Tagline – Mysterious. Irresistible. Deadly.

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Killer Mermaids starts when two friends Kelly (Klebe) and Lucy (Burn) head to Montenegro for a holiday away with an old college friend Alex (Stefanovic) they meet Boban (Micanovic) who takes them all to a forbidden former military island of the mainland.

Once on the island the friends find themselves needing to fight for their lives when Nike (Nero) starts hunting them to protect a secret on the island.

Thoughts on Killer Mermaids

Characters – Kelly is one of the two tourists, she has a fear of the water, seems the more grounded of the two and wants to do the right thing more than the rest of the group. Lucy is the best friend that is all about the party, which is what she wants from her time on the holiday. Alex is the old friend and local that is showing the girls around the island, with Boban who seems to be some sort of rival on the island. The Guardian of the mermaids, finding victims to feed them with, bringing the closest to a serial killer like figure.

Performances – The performances in the film are not the strongest, with only Miodrag Krstovic being scary to watch with his actions through the film, everyone else is the standard scream in the horror movie moment.

Story – The story here follows a group of tourists that find themselves being hunted down on an island which is being used to feed mermaids, they find themselves running for their lives. This story doesn’t really break away from the traditional horror elements, group of people that will get hunted down to escape an evil, trying to through a couple of twists along the way, but it is mostly running around a deserted island looking to survive, with very little use of the mermaid.

Horror – The horror in the film doesn’t seem to hit the heights it promises, with most of the film being running around in the dark, rather than being stalked by a more deadly killer that is meant to be a bloodthirsty mermaid.

Settings – The film does keep us in remote location with the island off the coast which the characters find themselves trapped on during the attacks.


Scene of the Movie – The first mermaid sighting.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – If you aren’t a fan of the open water, why would you go to a seaside resort?

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that does bring us a villainous creature in mermaids, only to hold them back too much and end up being just a normal horror with nothing special.



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Movie Review

The Medium (2021) Movie Review ‘Relentless’

The Medium – Relentless

 

Director: Banjong PIsanthanakun

Writer: Banjong PIsanthanakun, Na Hong-jin (Screenplay) Cha-won Choi, Chantavit Dhanasevi, Siwawut Sewatanon (Story)

Starring: Narilya Gulmongkolpech, Sawanee Utoomma, Sirani Yankittikan, Yasaka Chaisorn, Boonsong Nakphoo

Plot: A horrifying story of a shaman’s inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand. What could be possessing a family member might not be the Goddess they make it out to be.

Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Medium starts as we meet Nim (Utoomma) a Medium that has been handed down the gift from generations before her, taking the role in the village, one that is believed to have been from a Goddess, gifting her powers to help people.

When Nim starts to notice and learn about the change her niece Mink (Gulmongkolpech) is going through, it brings back the connection with her sister Noi (Yankittikan) who might be able to help solve the problems she is going through or is the Goddess Ba Yan looking to change bodies.

Thoughts on The Medium

Characters & Performances – Nim is the local medium or shaman in the village, she has been gifted this by her Aunt, with generations before them, she sees is as a blessing, as it means she can help people. She doesn’t have the support of her sister who rejected the gift and now she is starting to see her niece has been selected to take over, needing to try and remain close in case she needs help with the changes she is going through. Mink is the niece of Nim, she has started to go off the rails in her late teens early twenties, showing signs that Nim believes she has been selected to become the next shaman of the village, she is put through a horrendous ordeal, as the Goddess is looking to take on the next body. Noi is the mother of Mink, she rejected the chance to become the shaman, turning to Christianity, while suffering a lot more in her life, she has tried to protect her daughter from the same thing, only to find herself helpless when it comes to dealing with the changes she is put through. This is a film that went out of its way to cast almost unknown actors, Narilya Gulmongkolpech as Mink is a star born, giving us one of the best debuting horror performances in recent years, using her body for the movement the character is forced through

Story – The story here dives into the world of legends, where a family will be given the gift of becoming a shaman for a Goddess Ba Yan, only the next person selected to reject the gift, unleashing a devastating evil upon the world, all shot in what looks like a documentary, rather than a full blown found footage film. This is a brilliant twist on diving into beliefs mixed with devil possession and how another culture will approach different to an evil coming into their village. This is a story that will start at a slow pace, when everything coming to life, we are left with a relentless second half, where you literally don’t know what will happen next. This is a film that will drag you in and never let you leave.

Themes – The Medium is a horror that will dive into the possession world, one that is tied together with beliefs, where people believe in different versions of Gods and Goddess. The horror we go through, will get more intense as the film unfolds. The locations of the small village, shows how the beliefs have created and accepted each and every religion around the village.

Final Thoughts – The Medium is a relentless horror that once unleashed never stops.